L'Amour Existe Encore
by Davis Family Fan
Summary: While Alexis is juggling her budding love life, Sam is battling her own personal demons when someone comes into her life who tests her ability to accept that despite it all love still exists. Features SOME JaSam, Maxie, Diane, and Robin. RAUNCHY COMEDY.
1. The Wedding

So, this has started off as a one-shot, however it turned into something more.

Now, I will warn you, **This is a MATURE read**, with many MANY **MANY **jokes. So **BE WARNED.**

**Chapter One**

**The Wedding**

Spinelli and Maxie had just finished their celebratory non-wedding, whatever that was. It seemed as though the whole town was in attendance at the reception at Jake's. Alexis had been unable to attend the ceremony that never was, but told her girls that she would meet them for the reception.

When she arrived, she found Kristina and Molly sitting at a table with Morgan and Luke's newfound son, Ethan.

--- "Ah, why do I get the feeling that you're not about to play a nice game of bridge?"

Ethan charmingly smiled at her.

--- "Well, Ms. Davis, you're more than welcome to join our game of poker! The more the merrier!"

While Luke had not raised Ethan, his son was certainly cut from the same cloth: all charm surrounded by a deck of cards and liquor. Alexis noticed the flirtatious looks Kristina was giving him; no daughter of hers was going to fall for a younger version of Luke.

--- "That's quite alright, I think I'll just take my two girls and sit… way over there."

He flashed another smile her way.

--- "That's a pity! Next time, I hope!"

Alexis nervously smiled his way, and yanked an unwilling Kristina from the table.

Molly put her hand on his shoulder.

--- "Sorry, but I think that to my mother, you're Heathcliff, and Kristina's Catherine—"

He took a large gulp of his drink.

--- "I'm sorry?"

--- "_Wuthering Heights_. You're the mysterious gypsy man whom no one trusts, while Catherine is the belle of the ball. I guess the only difference is that you two didn't grow up together, but still—"

--- "MOLLY!"

Molly looked to see her mother calling her over.

--- "See?"

Ethan smiled.

--- "Well, run along then. I'm sure I'll see you again; we'll chat Bronte then."

She was shocked he knew who the author of the book was. He noticed the look on her face.

--- "I'm not that much of an idiot bloke; she was English."

Molly laughed and walked over to the table her mother and sister were seated.

--- "I don't want you talking to him; he's just as bad as Luke, and that's saying something. Anyway, where's you're sister?"

Kristina and Molly looked at each other; Alexis noticed their failed attempt at inconspicuousness.

--- "Kristina? Molly? Where is she?"

Molly looked down, while Kristina just sighed.

--- "Fine. She's with Jason."

Alexis shook her head; she could not say that she was shocked, but she certainly had hoped that her daughter would not go down that road again.

--- "Okay."

Kristina and Molly were shocked.

--- "Mom, that's it? Okay? You're not going to call her and summon her here?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "I don't summon Sam anywhere. She's a grown woman who does what she wants—"

Molly's mouth hung open.

--- "And you're not going to say anything?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Nope. Believe me, I've interfered before, when you were just my itty bitty, but that didn't work well at all. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and pray that she's okay and remains safe. That's all I want for any of you girls. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a drink."

After their mother left the table, Kristina shook her head and leaned into her little sister.

--- "How much do you want to bet that this newfound attitude doesn't last very long?"

Molly frowned at her sister.

--- "I'm not stupid Kristina, I'm not about to lose any money on that bet. She'll crack."

Kristina looked over at her mother as she showed Coleman two fingers, indicating that she wanted a double of whatever drink she was ordering.

--- "I can't wait!"

* * *

Sam and Jason had stayed behind at the hall, allowing Carly and Jax to take Morgan, Kristina, and Molly to Jake's for the reception.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss.

--- "Did I tell you how sexy you looked in your pink tie?"

He smiled back at her; it was amazing how it seemed like no one else was ever able to put a smile on his face the way that she did.

--- "I don't know about all that. But you look really great in that dress."

She bit her bottom lip and smiled at him.

--- "Well, I'm sure that we can find other uses for it."

They passionately kissed again. She pressed her head into his chest.

--- "I missed this."

He held her tightly.

--- "Me too."

Suddenly her phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her purse.

--- "It's Krissy… Hello? … Okay, I'll be right there."

She looked up at him.

--- "We should probably go."

He tried to pull her into another kiss, but she held him back.

--- "It looks like my sisters let the cat out of the bag, and my mother just ordered a double of something at the bar; we need to go."

He sighed and let her drag him out of the hall and toward the car.

* * *

Mac was beyond ecstatic that Maxie and Spinelli did not ride off into the sunset in wedding bliss. He ordered himself a long island iced tea, and walked over to Alexis who was standing by the jukebox.

--- "HEY, Alexis! Isn't this the most wonderful day EVER!?"

She smiled at him.

--- "You're drunk?"

He winked.

--- "Birds are shining, sun is singing—"

--- "Birds are SINGING, sun is SHINING, but whatever works for you."

--- "Maxie didn't marry that mumbling idiot! Phew, I swear, I thought I was going to have to use this."

She looked at him questioningly until she realized that he was pointing to the gun in its holster covered by his jacket.

--- "You're absolutely ridiculous, you know that Mac?"

He shrugged his shoulders and pushed a button.

Alexis shook her head and laughed at his selection.

--- "1999? Mac, you're playing Prince?"

He took the final sip from his drink and grabbed her.

--- "Oh yea! It was either going to be Armageddon tonight, or a celebration! I think we lucked out."

He began to dance with her in the best way a drunken person could manage to dance.

Robin and Patrick ran over to them.

--- Sorry Alexis! Uncle Mac, come on!"

Alexis gave Robin a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Bless you."

She quickly moved away and toward Kristina who was once again talking to Ethan.

_--- "I'd love to hear more stories about Australia."_

Alexis approached them.

_--- "Oh, I'm sure Mr. Lovett has something much more important to do other than teach the girls how to play cards, huh!"_

Ethan smiled at her again and walked away.

Just then Sam walked into the bar and noticed her mother and sisters.

_--- "You guys having fun?"_

Alexis smiled lovingly.

_--- "There's my other one!"_

She gave her daughter a kiss and a hug.

_--- "I wanna go be with my babies. Let's go sit down and talk."_

Sam was happy to be with her mother, especially since the last time that they had really spoken, things had not gone too well.

They sat down at a corner table away from the loud music. Alexis smiled at her eldest daughter.

--- "You look beautiful. I'm sorry I didn't make it home early enough to see you three; I would've liked to take a picture of my girls looking pretty."

Sam smiled back at her mother.

--- "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself. How's the volunteering going?"

Kristina and Molly remained quiet and waited for their mother to bring the subject of Jason up.

--- "It's not bad. Um, so you came with Jason?"

And bingo.

Sam looked at her sisters before answering their mother.

--- "Wow, way to jump right in there! You're not in the least bit subtle are you, Mom. And before you say anything else because I already know what you're going to say, everything is fine."

Alexis waved her hands.

--- "Nope, I'm not saying anything, Sam. You're a grown woman and I'm not going to interfere. Would this be the smartest thing that you've done? No, probably not. But I'm not going say anything—"

--- "Well, I'm glad—"

--- "I mean, I'm not going to say that you're making a mistake or anything, or that you're putting your life in danger. I won't even remind you of the fact that he threatened to kill you, or that you were nearly killed and—"

--- "MOM!"

Alexis stared at her daughter. Sam looked agitated, but slightly amused.

--- "What?"

--- "I thought you said you weren't going to say anything."

Alexis feigned innocence.

--- "I didn't—"

Sam crossed her arms.

--- "Saying what you're not going to say, is the same as saying it, Mom."

--- "Fine. I'm sorry, but I can't help but be worried about you. I know how hurt you were the last time you two broke up; I don't want to see you like that again, honey. Besides, I'm not the DA anymore, so I can't have him brought in anymore for hurting you—"

Sam shook her head at the memory.

--- "Well, thank God for that—"

Alexis stood up and walked over to her.

--- "Look, I'm really going to try my very best to not interfere, but that doesn't mean that I won't have my opinions about it, and I'm sorry, but you're going to hear them. Sam, I don't want you to lose yourself in him again. You've come so far in all these years since you've broken up, and I would hate to see you regress to your old habits."

Sam stood up and looked her mother in the eyes.

--- "Mom, I promise, I won't. When I think about how dependent I was on him then, it embarrasses me. I mean, the things that I did to him, to myself… to you, just for love were sick; I know that now. But, you have to trust that I know better. Mom, you have to trust that I'm better than I was then."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter.

--- "Honey, I trust you, believe me I do. I just don't trust him."

Sam looked up at her mother.

--- "Well, I'll tell you what, we're taking things pretty slow right now—"

Kristina and Molly laughed.

--- "Wow, if that's what taking it slow is, I'm kind of curious to know what moving fast looks like."

Sam reached for the straw in her drink and tossed it at her sister. Alexis held onto her eldest daughter.

--- "I almost don't want to ask."

Sam blushed.

--- "Please don't."

Alexis kissed Sam's forehead, and wiped her lipstick off.

--- "Fine."

--- "Thank you. Okay, I'm going to go talk to him."

Sam moved to leave, but Alexis pulled her back to her.

--- "I just want to apologize to you, honey, for the way I treated you the other day. I want you to know that your opinion matters to me, okay?"

Sam nodded. Alexis passed her hand over her daughter's cheek.

--- "Now you may go."

Sam began to walk away, when Alexis called out to her.

--- "Sam?"

She turned around, almost annoyed that her mother was once again stopping her from leaving.

--- "Yea?"

--- "I love you."

Sam smiled.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

She finally turned and walked away uninterrupted.

* * *

Alexis went to the bar once more and ordered another drink. Mac walked up behind her.

--- "So, are you having fun?"

Coleman handed her the drink, and she took a sip.

--- "Honestly, I am. How are you doing?"

He smiled; his eyes were sparkling.

--- "Would you believe I'm on Cloud 9?"

She shook her head.

--- "No, not really. I think you're actually on Cloud 49, Mac; you're still drunk."

He nodded his head guiltily.

--- "I look at Maxie, and I just think about her as my little girl no matter how old she gets. I just want to hold her to me, and I'm willing to break the neck of any moron who tries to get anywhere near her—"

Alexis looked over toward Sam, who was gazing into Jason's eyes.

--- "I know what you mean. You know, I didn't raise her, but God, I love her as though I did. I would move heaven and earth to ensure that she never got hurt; I'd do that for all of my girls—"

He nodded his head and took a shot of vodka.

--- "Well, it looks like you and I have more in common than we thought."

Alexis was somewhat befuddled.

--- "I wasn't thinking about how much we had in common, Mac."

He winked at her, and walked away.

She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

--- "That was definitely the alcohol talking."

* * *

Robin grabbed the mike.

--- "Ok, I know that we didn't have an actual ceremony—"

--- "HALLELUJAH!!!"

Robin pointed at Patrick to control her uncle; Patrick shrugged innocently.

--- "Uncle Mac, be quiet… Anyway, as I was saying, I know that we didn't have an actual ceremony, but since we've got the bouquet and the bride's wearing the garter, I think it only fitting that we keep up with the traditions!"

The room applauded.

--- "Great! Single Men on the dance floor! Maxie, have a seat; Spinelli get that garter out!"

Mac made an effort to stand in protest, but Patrick held him down.

--- "I will kill him if he sticks his hand up my baby's dress."

It took all the strength in Patrick to hold Mac down.

--- "Hey, Mac, you let me—"

Mac glared at Patrick.

--- "Um, never mind."

The crowd cheered as Spinelli held the garter in his hands. Mac sneered.

--- "I'll kill him!"

Patrick shook his head.

--- "Mac, it's too late. Let it go."

Spinelli threw the garter backwards; Jason caught it with one hand.

--- "Ah, Stone Cold! How fortuitous!"

Sam smiled seductively at Jason as he smirked at her. Alexis sat across the room watching the scene.

--- "God, I need another drink."

Robin returned to the mike.

--- "Alright! Single ladies! It's your turn!"

Kate was at Alexis like a lion on an unsuspecting prey.

--- "Come one, Lex! Don't hide! You're part of this crowd."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No thanks!"

Kate pulled her to the dance floor.

--- "You don't have any choice in the matter."

Alexis relented.

--- "FINE."

As she was about to pull Sam into the crowd of single women, Maxie threw the bouquet; it landed right in Sam's hands. Alexis just about died.

--- "Oh dear God."

Kristina and Molly noticed that their mother was headed toward their sister to take the bouquet from their sister's hands.

--- "Mommy, you just told her you weren't going to interfere."

Alexis frowned.

--- "Fine."

She walked back to the bar to get another drink before going back to her seat.

Much to Alexis' chagrin, Robin was back on the mike.

--- "Alright! I know that Jason might not be up to this… or maybe he might be, but it's time to put the garter on Sam."

Alexis groaned in agitation. Mac sauntered up to her.

--- "You need more drinks, Lex. You look like I felt a few hours ago! Look at me know! I'm on top of the world!"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Coleman, I'll have what he's having."

* * *

--- "Alright, everyone, it's Karaoke time!"

Sam and Jason rolled their eyes; Robin was a bit too excited over this non-wedding.

--- "Everyone gather around!"

Sam pulled Jason from his chair.

--- "You heard her, let's go!"

She walked up to her mother and sisters with Jason in tow. Alexis smiled cordially, as a sign of good faith on her part. Jason nodded his head to her and positioned himself against the bar. When Sam when to move to stand with him, Alexis grabbed her.

--- "Indulge me… please?"

Sam looked over at Jason and shrugged; she smiled at her mother.

--- "Fine."

Coleman put the music on full blast as everyone began to sing, "I Want to Know What Love Is."

As nauseating as she found her daughter's relationship with Jason, Alexis was grateful to him for his part in helping her reunite with her daughter all those years ago. She put her arms around her three girls and sang to the happily unmarried couple. In that moment, she knew exactly what love was.


	2. The Walk

Your wish is my command…

UNEDITED

**Chapter Two**

**The Walk**

The next morning, Alexis woke up with a splitting headache; she felt as though her head had been mistaken for a nail, and someone was pounding a hammer into it. It had been years since she felt that lousy waking up. In fact, the last time she felt that way, she had been on chemotherapy for lung cancer.

- "Why the hell did I drink so much! I swear, it's that child's fault. She and that criminal she's stupidly decided to date again. I have to remember to vomit on her for this."

She squinted her eyes as opening them to their full extent only made the room spin. Since the sun had the nerve and audacity to shine brightly into the room, her ability to see through her dizziness was severely compromised. She had never resented the sun than she did at that moment. She closed her eyes as the sun's constant shine perpetuated the radiating headache she was fighting.

- "Damn you! How dare you shine in my eyes! Ow! Why the hell didn't I close those stupid curtains—"

Suddenly a realization hit her.

- "Wait a second; I've never seen those curtains before! I don't even HAVE curtains in my room."

She sat up straight in the bed and took in her environment; it was a very manly like room with dark furniture, and blue walls. She had never been in that room a day in her life.

- "Ok, where the hell am I?"

She covered her face with her hands and tried to think about the events of from the previous night.

_**Flashback**_

_She continued to drink at the bar as the party continued. Sam walked over to her._

_- "Hey Mom, lushing it up, aren't we?"_

_She threw a peanut at her daughter._

_- "Hush you. I'm just enjoying myself here. I see you are."_

_Sam smiled at her mother._

_- "I'm not going to lie to you, but I am."_

_- "Honey, I really wish that you'd reconsider this thing with Jason—"_

_Sam crossed her arms._

_- "Mom, didn't we already have this conversation? I thought you weren't going to interfere?"_

_- "I'm not interfering! I'm just having a conversation with my first born. What's wrong with that?"_

_Sam glared at her. Alexis put her hands up in defeat._

_- "Okay, you win. But, I'm still going to be worried about you."_

_Sam smiled at her mother._

_- "That's fine, but I just want you to know that your opinion matters to me, too. I appreciate you caring about me—"_

_- "Honey, I'm your mother, of course I would care about you."_

_Sam took her mother's glass from her._

_- "HEY!"_

_Sam finished the drink for her._

_- "This is me being worried about you and caring for you; you'll thank me for this later."_

_Alexis rolled her eyes._

_- "Yea, I'm sure. Listen, can you take your sister's home for me please?"_

_Sam was apprehensive._

_- "I think I should be taking all three of you home." _

_- "No, I'm fine, honey. I'm going to just sit with Kate; I feel like I haven't spoken to her in weeks."_

_Sam shook her head and gave her mother a kiss. _

_- "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow?"_

_She wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter._

_- "You'd better! Be careful, honey."_

_- "I will, Mom, but I can't breathe."_

_She let go of her Sam._

_- "Sorry."_

XO XO XO XO

_She and Kate sat down catching up on their lives over the past few weeks._

_- "I cannot believe that you lost your job as D.A.! What's worse is that I can't believe that you did those things, Alexis! It's so not like you—"_

_Alexis was slightly inebriated… well, let's call a spade a spade… Alexis was at the crossroads of being drunk and wasted._

_- "Look, I'm not some perfect little Miss Muffet! I've done stupid things before; one of which was sleeping with that itsy bitsy Mayor, and the other—"_

_She may have been drunk, but she was not stupid enough to admit to anyone outside of her family that it was really Kristina who caused the accident._

_- "Well, you know what the other stupid thing was."_

_Kate smiled and left the table when she saw Coleman pass by._

_- "Oh, he's sexy."_

_Alexis waved at her friend._

_- "Get them girl! That's what the young kids say right?"_

_Mac swayed over to the women._

_- "HEY LEX!"_

_She frowned at him._

_- "You're an incredibly loud drunk, you know that?"_

_He tapped her on the nose._

_- "I'm a HAPPY drunk! I feel like it's Christmas, Lex!"_

_He sat in the chair Kate previously occupied._

_- "Let me tell you something: When Sam marries that … that… that THUG, Jason Morgan—"_

_Alexis put her hand up._

_- "My daughter will NOT be marrying Jason."_

_- "How do you know that Lex? Look at Maxie! She almost married that computer geek!"_

_- "Exactly, Mac, ALMOST. Sam's not marrying him."_

_- "She might."_

_- "She won't"_

_- "She will."_

_- "Mac, shut up."_

_She got up and walked away._

_**End of Flashback**_

That was the last thing she remembered.

- "AH! What the hell?"

She heard a muffled snore beside her.

- "Oh dear God—"

She pulled the sheet down from her bedfellow's face; there he was, a sleeping Mac … correction, a sleeping topless Mac beside her.

- "God, PLEASE let him have pants on!"

She looked under the sheet and not only was he in the buff, she had been so deep in thought about the night's happenings that she failed to notice that she too was missing her clothing.

- "Ok… um… Lex… it's not necessary as bad as it looks. Nope, he might actually sleep this way…. But, what about you, dingbat? … Um, there's an explanation for that as well… When I figure out what it is, you'll be the first to know."

She slowly rolled out of the bed, careful not to wake him up. She wanted to take the sheet, but she was not sure if she really needed to see Mac in his full glory.

- "Goddess above, if you love me at all, you'll keep this man sleeping! It's one thing to have drunken sex, it's another for him to wake up and see me naked!"

She found her clothes scattered all over the room. As she bent to grab her underwear, Mac grunted and slowly opened his eyes.

- "WHOA!"

He quickly covered his eyes.

- "Oh my goodness, I did NOT need to see all of THAT!"

Alexis was mortified and angry at the same time. She covered herself the best she could with her dress she found on the chair in the corner and pulled the sheet off from him.

- "YEA! I didn't need to see ALL of THAT either, MAC!"

Mac reddened and covered himself up.

- "What the hell was that about Alexis!"

She turned her back to him and slipped her dress on. Her head was pounding but she did not care.

- "You screamed in disgust at my naked body, and I'm not supposed to be offended?"

He shook his head and waved his hands forgetting what he was covering; Alexis took a pillow and threw it on him.

- "Cover yourself up!"

- "NO! I was just shocked! I mean, did we? You know? I mean, you and me?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "I don't know! But I'm sure we weren't playing naked twister in here, and from what I can tell, that pillow is covering the only board in this room."

She grabbed her bra that was hanging on the bed post and stuffed it in her purse and walked to the door.

- "NOT a SINGLE word to ANYONE, Mac Scorpio! NO ONE!"

She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, aggravating her headache.

- "Sh!t!"

When she stepped out of the house, she remembered that she did not have a car; she had taken a cab to the bar and she had no idea how she and Mac got back to the house. She reached in her purse for her cell phone.

A sleepy voice answered.

- "Hello?"

- "Sam, honey, it's Mom—"

Sam looked at the clock at the bedside table; it was seven in the morning.

- "Mom, do you know what time it is?"

Alexis honestly did not have a clue.

- "Honey, I'm really sorry I woke you up, but can you pick me up?"

- "Now?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "No, Sam, next week! Yes, NOW!"

Sam sat up in the bed.

- "Wait, where are you?"

Alexis pressed the bridge of her nose.

- "I'm at Mac's. And before you say ANYTHING Samantha McCall, you will bite your tongue because I'm in no mood."

Sam smiled; this was highly amusing.

- "Give me 10 minutes."

Alexis let out a sigh of relief.

- "Thank you honey."

* * *

Sam got out of the bed, and realized that she did not have anything to wear but the dress she wore the night before; she was at Jason's place.

- "This is wonderful. My mother and I are taking the walk of shame on the same morning."

She shook her head in both horror and slight amusement at the irony of it all: her mother had probably just slept with the police commissioner, while she had spent the night with the mob enforcer; only in her family would something like this happen.

Jason watched her dress.

- "Where are you going?"

She walked over to his side of the bed and gave him a kiss. She slipped her hand under the sheet; he was pleased… that was an understatement.

- "I have to pick my mother up."

- "From where?"

- "I don't think I can tell you that."

He tried to pull her into the bed, but she resisted him.

- "Oh, as much as I'd love to, I really can't. I told her I'd be there in 10 minutes."

He sat up straight and grabbed her moving hand from under the sheet.

- "Sorry, but if you want to go and get her from wherever she is, you might want to stop doing that."

She laughed and kissed him again.

- "Okay… I'll see you later?"

- "Yea."

She gave him one last kiss before she ran out of his room.

As she passed Spinelli's regrettably pink room, she laughed at the escaping sounds.

She left the apartment and made her way to her car; she could not wait to hear what her mother had to say.

* * *

Mac came down the stairs to see Alexis sitting on the steps outside like a child waiting for the school bus. He had put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, but he still could not believe that he might have had sex with Alexis the night before.

He opened the door.

- "Alexis, what are you doing?"

He noticed her ears reddened when he spoke to her.

- "I'm waiting for Sam; it seems that I don't have a car."

He looked in his driveway and noticed that his car was missing as well.

- "I'd offer to drive you home, but it looks like my car was left at the hall or at Jake's."

She had not noticed that his car was also missing.

- "So how the hell did we get back here?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

- "Cab?"

She shook her head, she did not believe that could be right.

- "Please, your niece and her husband were there; my daughter and her… something… were there, there's no way that either of them would've let us go home in a cab. Since Sam had no idea where I was this morning, I'm assuming that she didn't drive us, maybe Robin? But why in the world would she leave me here?"

He knew that his niece had a habit of setting single people up with each other, but he seriously doubted that she would have had two drunk single people… two drunk single people who had not had sex in some time, go home together. He hoped his niece had more sense than that.

- "I don't know. It doesn't seem like her."

A horn honked behind them; it was Sam. Alexis blushed again.

- "Um, well, I need to go."

She was not sure if she should kiss him or hug him, or anything; she settled for a handshake. Sam was watching the interaction from her car; she could not help but laugh at the awkwardness.

Mac tried to look Alexis in the eye as he said goodbye, but his eyes traveled southward. Alexis blushed harder; she snapped her fingers at him.

- "That's the last time you're going to see them; by your reaction upstairs, I'm sure the image of them are burned in your brain."

It was his turn to blush.

- "I'm really sorry Alexis, it's just really… weird."

Sam honked again; she was getting restless. Alexis put a finger up to her to tell her to wait and stop being rude. She turned back to Mac.

- "Um… I'm gonna go before Sam falls asleep at the wheel; I should've known better than to call her to get me, she's not exactly a morning person."

- "Bye Alexis. I guess I'll see you at—"

She shook her head.

- "I basically got fired, remember? But, I guess that's great for us, right? I mean, it's not like we have to really encounter each other too much… Yea, this will be fine. We don't even know if we actually… you know. So, it's fine. Um… okay, I'm going to go now because I'm just rambling."

He smiled at her; he never realized how cute she looked when she was nervous. He noticed how her dimples deepened and the way she spoke with her hands, and passed them in her hair constantly. Or how… his eyes began to wander again.

She noticed and walked away.

- "Bye Mac."

When he snapped out of his semi-conscious state, she was half way to the awaiting car.

- "Bye Alexis!"

She waved without turning around to face him; he noticed that her ears flashed a bright red.

Sam sat in the car watching her mother walk towards her; her face took on a completely new shade of red. Alexis opened the passenger side door, and sat down.

- "Not a single word."

Sam smiled.

- "Well, the only thing I was going to say… well, the only TWO things I was going to say were: One, good morning."

Alexis smiled back.

- "I'm sorry honey, good morning."

She leaned in to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek, but Sam pushed her back to her side of the car. Alexis was shocked.

- "What's wrong with you."

Sam shook her head.

- "And two, Mom, I don't know where your mouth's been, and we won't discuss mine. Let's save the hugs and kisses until after we get showered and brush our teeth, because clearly both of us need to take care of that."

Alexis looked down at her clothes, and looked over at Sam.

- "Oh God—"

Sam nodded her head.

- "Yup, the walk of shame. Oh, and your bra, is on the ground."

Alexis looked out of the window; sure enough, her bra had fallen out of her bag.

- "Sh!t."


	3. Little Red Riding Hood

_UNEDITED_

**Chapter Three**

**Little Red Riding Hood**

They walked into the lake house after the short, but silent car ride; Alexis had refused to comment, or allow Sam to question her, about the events of the previous evening.

- "Oh come on, Mom! You can't call me at SEVEN in the morning, have me pick you up from your booty call, and then hold out on me!"

Alexis glared at her daughter.

- "Excuse you, but that was NOT a 'booty call'—"

Sam put her hands on her hips.

- "Well, what was it then?"

Alexis rolled her eyes and walked to her room; Sam followed her.

- "Don't you have someplace to be?"

- "Nope—"

- "Sam, it's 7:30 in the morning and you're still in the same dress from last night. Don't you want to shower and change?"

Sam made herself comfortable on her mother's bed.

- "Yup, I'll get to that. I'm not leaving until you tell me what happened—"

Alexis shook her head and changed out of her dress into her bathrobe.

- "Sam, I don't have anything to say."

- "Oh come on, Mom! How don't you have anything to say? You and Mac, you spent the night… you were wearing the same dress from last night… your BRA was on the ground—"

- "Sam, I don't REMEMBER what happened last night! I was completely trashed. Are you happy? Now, honey, I need to shower, and you need to get off of my bed because even though I'm not sure what happened between Mac and I, you and Jason were… [ahem] occupied."

Sam yawned and got off the bed.

- "Sorry. I'm going home; call me later—"

Alexis shook her head and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder and led her out of her room. She pointed her to the direction of her old room.

- "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that you're home—"

Sam looked at her mother; even though she would never openly admit it, she was still hurt that Alexis had kicked her out of the house twice in a row not too long ago. Alexis saw the look in her daughter's face.

- "Honey, I'm sorry for how I kicked you out a few weeks ago. I know that you were only trying to help your sister, and I was wrong for that. But, I don't want you to think that because of a mistake in judgment that this house isn't just as much yours as it is your sisters, okay?"

Sam smiled at her mother; she was grateful for the fact that she didn't have to go into an explanation of her feelings.

- "Okay, but I don't have anything to wear—"

- "Go check your closet, I'm sure there are a couple of things in there."

- "Thanks."

Alexis shook her head and watched as her eldest daughter walked toward the room that had always awaited her return.

Alexis had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her cell phone going off. She wrapped herself in her towel and went to answer it; it was Mac.

- "Hello?"

He cleared his throat on the other line.

- "Um, hi Lex."

Alexis reddened at the sound of his voice.

- "Hi, Mac. Wh-what can I do for you?"

- "I found an earring on my bed—I think it's yours."

Alexis laughed.

- "You think it's mine? Geez, Mac, how many women do you take to your bed?"

As uncomfortable as the conversation had been in the beginning, he could not help but laugh at Alexis' comment.

- "Well, if we count you, I guess that would make… um… one. I'm not the kind of guy to sleep around—"

He did not know why he gave her all of that information; it was not as though she liked him that was anyway. He smacked himself on the forehead.

- "I can't say I'm the type to sleep around either, but I must say that perhaps if you and I did… you would be the most sane and normal person I've been with in a long time. I guess that's assuming that you are sane and normal. I mean, I've known you for a while, but not like that… you know, in the biblical sense. Um, not that I'm saying that we've known each other in the biblical—"

- "Lex—"

She finished her sentence before shutting up. Her face burned.

- "Sense."

Mac loved to hear her ramble; it was endearing. It was one of the funny quirks about the usually quick thinking, sharp attorney; whenever she was nervous, she had a tendency to practically vomit whatever was on her mind.

- "Alexis, it's okay. I'm sure that we'll eventually figure out what happened—"

A thought suddenly came to her mind, but she was almost embarrassed to ask him about it.

- "Mac—"

- "Lex?"

She loved it when he called her 'Lex.' He had been doing it for years, but she never realized until recently how nice it sounded coming from him.

- "When you—when you found my earring… now you'll have to excuse me for asking—"

- "What?"

- "Did you happen to find a used condom—"

He spit out the coffee he had been drinking.

- "WHAT?"

She paced the room nervously.

- "Did you find a used condom anywhere in your bed… stuck on you—perhaps?"

He had been fighting a hangover from the time that he had awoken, but the conversation had taken a turn that made him feel as though he were stuck in the middle of the ocean on a tiny rowboat.

- "Um, no I didn't? Why?"

She could not believe that she was having this conversation with him.

- "Well, typically when people have sex without condoms, there's a chance of pregnancy—"

He was shocked at what he had just heard.

- "You can STILL get pregnant?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them. Alexis slammed the phone shut. It seemed that he had his own version of oral bulimia.

Alexis was livid over the fact that he would presume her so old as to not be able to have any more children.

- "God! He thinks I'm some kind of shriveled up old shrew. My eggs might not be as many, but damn it they're not stinky and rotten! They're still farm fresh. What an ass. I can't believe he told me that."

She pulled out a pair of sweatpants from her drawer and began to change. There was a single knock on the door, before it opened up.

- "GOD, MOM!"

Kristina covered her eyes in disgust. Alexis was getting sick and tired of receiving that kind of reaction at the sight of her body.

- "Yea, Kristina, cower in disgust; but let me tell you something, wait until YOU have children. Let's see what your body looks like then."

She finished getting dressed.

- "You can uncover your scarred eyes now, assuming you can still see from them; I clearly blinded you."

Kristina had not meant to hurt her mother's feelings; she just never liked seeing her in a state of undress.

- "Sorry—"

Alexis was still reeling from her conversation with Mac to realize that her daughter had apologized to her.

- "I swear, you people have your nerve. You think that a woman's body is supposed to look like some kind of Nirvana forever. Wait until you give birth to three, count them, THREE pain in the ass—no, I take that back, the only one that doesn't give me any trouble is Molly, but I'm just waiting for you and Sam to sick your teeth into her until she turns all evil—"

Kristina rolled her eyes.

- "Mom—"

Alexis continued.

- "I'm only 45 you know. I'm not some bitty with 25 cats and stringy hair! I'm sure that people would buy MY eggs. You know what, my eggs are more valuable now that they're fewer… HA! They're collector's items! Only a few left—"

Kristina could not help but laugh at the ridiculousness of her mother's rant. She decided to just walk out of the room before she heard something that was not meant for her ears.

- "Um, I'm gonna go. Sorry for screaming in shock, Mom. Um, you handle whatever's bothering you."

She pushed her daughter out of her way as she walked out of her own room towards the kitchen. She was getting a very bad headache; she needed her morning coffee.

* * *

After having her coffee, Alexis sat on the couch in the living room trying to think about what might have happened the night before. Although Mac was shocked that her well was not dry, she was nervous about that if something had happened, she might end up pregnant; granted she hadn't seen Aunt Flo in about two months, it certainly did not mean that she could not get pregnant. She fell asleep on the couch for a few hours.

- "Mom."

She was being shaken awake.

- "What?"

- "It's one in the afternoon."

She opened her eyes to see Sam standing in front of her.

- "So?"

Sam pulled her up by the arm.

- "Diane called, she's going to be here in a few minutes. She might be able to help you with your mystery—"

Alexis rubbed her eyes and yawned.

- "Mystery?"

Sam nodded her head.

- "Yea, how the hell you got to Mac's—"

Alexis made a face.

- "Don't mention that man's name to me again."

Sam frowned as she grabbed her mother's empty coffee mug and brought it into the kitchen.

- "What happened?"

Before she could respond someone was knocking on the door. Alexis went to get it.

- "Hi Diane."

Diane smiled at her best friend before making a face.

- "Hi honey, you look like crap—"

Alexis threw her hands up in the air.

- "Is today the 'Make Alexis Feel Like Sh!t' day?"

Diane gave her friend a hug.

- "I'm sorry! I was only partially kidding. I mean, you look like you had an exciting night—"

Sam walked back into the living room.

- "Hey Diane."

- "Hey toots. I was just telling your mother that she looks like she had an exciting evening—"

Sam smiled at Alexis, who was still frowning.

- "What's wrong?"

Diane brought the lunch bag into the house and placed it on the dining table.

- "I might have hurt your mommy's feelings—"

Sam was very protective of her mother; she had hurt her enough times. She had made a vow to herself that she would be the best daughter that she could be when she realized how fragile life was after Alan Quartermaine died.

- "What did you do to her?"

Alexis grabbed Sam's arm.

- "Honey, it's fine. I'm just extra sensitive today."

- "Well, what happened?"

- "It's only one o'clock, and I've already scarred Mac and Kristina, and Diane just confirmed why: I look like crap."

Sam glared at Diane.

- "Are you kidding me, Mom? You look great! What happened?"

Diane began laying out the food.

- "First, Mac nearly had a brain aneurysm at the sight of my naked body—"

A plate fell from Diane's hand onto the table.

- "NAKED? HE SAW YOU NAKED? So you DID do the deed?"

Alexis stared at Diane in disbelief.

- "Wait, what? What are you talking about? Do you know something about this?"

- "What you don't remember?"

Alexis folded her arms and stared at her best friend.

- "Well, clearly not, Diane. Enlighten me."

_**Flashback**_

_After Alexis, clearly drunk out of her mind, called her to join Kate and her, Diane stopped by Jake's after the reception. Kate was nowhere to be found, and neither was Coleman for that matter. Diane found Mac and Alexis sitting at a table… rather, she found Mac sitting at the table, with Alexis sitting in his lap._

_- "Whoa there little cowboy and girl. What's going on here?"_

_Alexis blushed slightly and got off from Mac's lap._

_- "Sorry, Di! … Oh my God! I'm so happy to see you! I haven't seen you in so long!"_

_Diane laughed and shook her head._

_- "Actually, you saw me this morning when we met up for breakfast before you went off to do your community service."_

_Alexis swayed in her spot for a few seconds._

_- "Oh yea!"_

_Diane looked around the bar; it was practically empty save for a few stragglers._

_- "Um, where's Kate?"_

_Alexis smiled and covered her mouth as she laughed to herself for a few minutes._

_- "She's with Coleman."_

_Diane was repulsed._

_- "COLEMAN? Oh my God! How could a fashion maven such as Kate Howard go with… with… a moonshine maker?"_

_Alexis had not heard anything Diane had said as Mac had begun to move his hand up and down her spine._

_- "Oh Mac—"_

_Diane moved Alexis away._

_- "You sir, are—are—you sir are committing a—a battery! She is too INEBRIATED to consent to your advances—"_

_Mac stood up and smiled._

_- "And I'm not in my right mind right now, so it cancels out—"_

_He walked away and smacked Alexis on the butt._

_- "Oh!"_

_Diane pulled her best friend aside._

_- "What the hell are you doing?"_

_Alexis tapped her on the nose._

_- "And what are YOU doing? Aren't you the one sleeping with a Mobguard?"_

_- "Mobguard, Alexis?"_

_Alexis nodded her head._

_- "Yup. You know what I mean! Sonny's force field, Max Giambetti! Well, I'm just having fun with the lawguard—"_

_Diane shook her head._

_- "Lawguard?"_

_Alexis smiled proudly._

_- "I'm with the guardian of the law as opposed to the guardian of the crime boss!"_

_- "You're not even WITH him Alexis—"_

_She shrugged her shoulders._

_- "No matter. Now, I need you to take Mac home."_

_- "Where's Robin and Patrick?"_

_- "They left! Mac refused to leave."_

_Diane was not about to leave the commissioner in the bar like some kind of wino, and she definitely was not leaving Alexis sitting there with him._

_- "Fine, let's go."_

xo xo xo xo xo

_When Diane pulled up to Mac's house, she tried to stop Alexis from leaving the car, but her attempts were unsuccessful._

_- "Diane, I GOT this! I'm above the age of consent."_

_Diane rolled her eyes._

_- "In the state of New York, you're on your way to being three times the age of consent."_

_Alexis frowned._

_- "Shut up."_

_Diane sighed; she figured that while her best friend had not gotten any in some time, the likelihood of success that night between a drunk Alexis and an even drunker Mac would be slim to none, so she relented._

_- "Fine, Alexis. You're an adult, but make sure that when you wake up in shock tomorrow morning, you don't come screaming at me."_

_Alexis gave Diane a juicy kiss on the cheek._

_- "I love you!"_

_- "Thanks for the slobber, Lex."_

_As she watched Alexis run after Mac, Diane called out._

_- "Lex, don't forget to make sure he straps up!"_

_Alexis blushed in embarrassment._

_- "Shhhh… Diane!"_

_**End of Flashback**_

- "And that's what happened."

Sam had tears from laughter rolling down her face as Alexis looked beyond mortified.

- "You've got to be kidding me."

Diane took a sip from her wine glass.

- "Nope. I swear to you on Chief Justice Marshall's grave, that I speak the truth."

Sam was in stitches, earning herself glares from her mother.

- "Will you stop cackling?"

- "Mom, I'm sorry, but I really wish I would've been there to see you that wasted!"

Alexis smacked Sam across the head.

- "Shut up."

Diane shook her head; she would have laughed herself but seeing as she had previously hurt Alexis' feelings, she figured she would keep her mouth shut.

- "So, um, Mac saw you naked?"

Alexis covered her face at the thought of his reaction.

- "Yes. We both woke up that way—"

Sam gagged.

- "I think I just vomited in my mouth."

That comment earned her another smack across the head.

- "Samantha, don't you have something to do today? Like go to Jason's?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Now you want me over there?"

- "If it'll get me some peace and quiet, then yea. Anyway, I don't know what happened last night, but all I know is that he called me this morning and told me that I left my earring—"

Diane pursed her lips in amusement.

- "Ooo."

- "ANYWAY… I thought to myself that I didn't remember seeing a condom anywhere—"

Sam covered her ears.

- "Oh my God, I never thought that I would be sitting here having this conversation with my mother."

Alexis pulled Sam's hands from her ears.

- "Will you relax? I asked him about it. Do you know what he said to me?"

Both women reacted, waiting to hear the awful thing Mac said that sent Alexis into a rage.

- "Hey said, you can STILL get pregnant? I mean, I'm not some old fart! I've still got some eggs in my basket. There may not be as many as there used to be, but damn it, they're still there! "

Diane shook her head and looked at Alexis.

"Face it Lex, Mac recognizes that Little Red Riding hood isn't coming around as much."

Sam and Alexis looked at each other questioningly; neither understood Diane's metaphor.

- "Um, what?"

Diane put her fork down and looked at the women.

- "When you're younger, Little Red Riding Hood is young and naïve. Each month she makes that trip to her grandmother's house. Every time she gets there, however, she keeps getting tricked by the wolf."

Alexis rolled her eyes in disgust.

- "Diane, are you trying to say that every month, when she gets tricked by the wolf, he eats her, and the result is our period?"

Diane snapped her fingers and took a sip of her drink.

- "Blood and guts, my friend."

Sam could not help but laugh at the ridiculous metaphor.

- "And wait, let me take a shot at this: Mom's Little Red Riding Hood finally got wise about the wolf?"

Diane shook her head before taking a final bite of her salad.

- "Nope, Little Red stopped coming by because grandma's dead."

Alexis could not believe that she was entertaining Diane's ridiculous train of thought.

- "And what about the wolf? What happened to him?"

Diane stood up and put her jacket on.

- "He moved on, but you gave birth to three of his spawn."

Alexis covered Sam's mouth as her daughter was about to prove how much of a wolf's spawn she could be.


	4. Knock Knock

UNEDITED

**Chapter Four**

**Knock Knock**

After Diane left, Sam went into the kitchen to clean up the dishes, while Alexis retook her place on the couch as her best friend's vivid description of the inner workings of her reproduction system left her with a headache.

When she finished loading the dishwasher, Sam sat on the coffee table in front of her mother.

- "Mom, do you want any Tylenol or something? You look like you're in a lot of pain."

Alexis opened one eye to look at her daughter.

- "You know, leave it to Diane to take a perfectly innocent story and turn it into something completely traumatizing. I swear to you, Sam, I don't think I'll ever be able to read that story the same way again. Thank goodness, she doesn't have any children."

Sam shook her head and laughed.

- "I don't think you need to take what Mac said seriously. I doubt he meant it to sound the way it came out. I'm sure he felt really bad about it."

Alexis attempted to sit up, but she thought better of her decision.

- "You know what, honey, I don't even care what he has to say. I'm not interested in him anyway, so it's fine."

- "Yea, okay, Mom—"

She frowned at her daughter.

- "What's your problem?"

- "You're not interested in him? Do you seriously think I'm buying that? Look how upset you are about this—"

Alexis forced herself to sit back up.

- "Sam, I'm upset that he embarrassed me the way he did. I'm upset that I woke up completely … you know, with him, that when he saw me that way, he acted as though he had acid thrown in his eyes, and that he assumed that I had some kind of molding dusty uterus."

Sam put her hands up in defeat.

- "Okay, so you have a point, Mom. I guess that would be embarrassing—"

- "You GUESS that would be embarrassing?"

- "Fine, I'm sure it's embarrassing. But, my point is that I don't think he meant you to feel that way. I think that he was probably just as embarrassed as you were because you clearly were not the only one… that way. And God knows you ramble when you're upset or embarrassed, Mac might blurt out stupid things. You know what I mean?"

Alexis stood up and gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.

- "I don't want to discuss this anymore. I'm going to lie down before your sisters get back from school. Are you sticking around?"

- "Um, I think I'm going to go; you need your rest—"

- "Are you going to Jason's?"

Sam smiled at the sound of his name. Alexis noticed and pulled Sam up. She took her daughters face in her hands.

- "Honey, I'm not going to say anything more about this—"

Sam grimaced causing Alexis to roll her eyes.

- "Okay, I'm not going to say anything more about this for the next hour… Sam, I just want you to be careful. I don't want you to regress back to your former self. Okay? Now, I don't want you to think that I would love you any less, but honey, I'm so proud of the woman that you've become since then, and only want to see you continue on that path."

Sam nodded her head. Alexis smiled and gave her another kiss on the forehead.

- "Mom, I promise you that I'm going to take this slow."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her.

- "And PLEASE don't do anything that'll get you arrested. You haven't been in jail since what? Last October? Can you keep it that way for me? I can't make your charges disappear so easily anymore."

Sam laughed and put her two fingers up.

- "Scout's honor."

- "Good."

Alexis smiled and began walking out of the room when she noticed something hanging from the wall; it was an extra set of house keys.

- "Sam?"

- "Hmm?"

- "Catch."

Alexis tossed the keys at her daughter.

- "I don't know why you never kept those. Remember what I said: this is your home, too."

Sam smiled at her mother.

- "Thanks, Mom."

Alexis shook her head and walked out of the room towards her bedroom.

* * *

Mac sat in his office thinking about the previous night when someone knocked on his door.

- "Come in."

Diane sauntered into his office, closing the door behind her.

- "Aren't you looking well, Mac."

He rubbed his temples; he knew that this was not going to be a pleasant visit.

- "You've spoken to Alexis, haven't you?"

She pulled a seat up to his desk.

- "I sure did! What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you insinuate that she was some kind of barren vessel! You hurt her feelings!"

Mac reddened at the memory.

- "I'm really sorry about that—"

- "Don't apologize to me, you dimwit! Apologize to her! What the hell happened between you two last night?"

He sighed and looked at her.

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis walked into the house after speaking to Diane._

_- "Maaaaaaalcolm?"_

_He was hiding behind the closet door._

_- "Aaaaaaaaaaaaleeeeeeexis?"_

_She began walking toward the direction she heard his voice come from. When she got closer, he jumped out of the closet._

_- "AAAAAH!"_

_She smacked him hard across the face._

_- "Ow, Lex!"_

_She smiled drunkenly and gave him a kiss on his wounded face._

_- "I'm sorry!"_

_He lifted her and carried her up the steps toward his bedroom. Once inside they could not keep their hands off of each other. Alexis reached into his pants and smiled._

_- "You give new meaning to the Penal Code, Mac Scorpio."_

_Mac grabbed her face and planted another kiss on her._

_- "Well, let's see if we can tip the scales of justice."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Diane rolled her eyes at him.

- "That's it?"

Mac nodded his head.

- "That's all I can remember right now. Diane, we were pretty drunk—"

Diane gave him a look of disgust.

- "I remember… Geez, Mac, you both were an embarrassment to the good law! Penal Code and Scales of Justice? God, you both disgust me!"

Mac covered his face trying to think of how he could go back in time and take his foot out his mouth.

- "How is she?"

- "She's fine, embarrassed, but fine. Her ego might be a bit bruised, but she'll be fine. Maybe you might want to send her something nice. Like an expensive pair of shoes… Or a purse! I know of this beautiful—"

Mac interrupted her; he could not handle one of her style tangents.

- "Would flowers do?"

She pursed her lips.

- "I suppose they might."

He grabbed the phone and began to dial.

- "Robin, I need you to order me three dozen roses—"

Diane shook her head and walked out of his office.

- "MEN."

* * *

Shortly after returning to her apartment, someone knocked furiously at her door. Sam knew by the knock, before she checked the peephole, who was standing on the other side of that door. She smiled and let her guest in.

- "Hey Maxie."

Maxie walked into Sam's apartment looking flustered.

- "Is your mother sleeping with my father?"

Sam was shocked that Maxie had found anything out considering that she and Spinelli were supposed to be on their "honeymoon."

- "Um, I don't know? Why?"

- "Because Mac decided that he would call me up and ask me what was so wrong about asking a woman if she could still have kids. I mean, I don't even know why he would even consider asking me something like that because I can't, nor do I EVER want to, imagine my dad having sex… Gross. That's the most traumatizing thing you could do to your kid; making them aware of the fact that you do that. You know what I mean?"

Sam blushed at the thought of her earlier conversation with her mother.

- "Painfully."

- "Good. Well, I really need to get Mac some male friends because he kept going on and on about being hungover and not knowing what happened the night before, and how blames Spinelli for causing him to wake up and offending people. Then he let it slip that he had a woman in his bed. That was the point where I had to hang up the phone… And seeing the look on your face confirms my suspicions that that woman was your mom."

Sam covered her mouth with both hands before responding.

- "How did you figure out that it was my mom?"

Maxie rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically.

- "Let's be serious Sam; she's like the only single woman other than Kate in this town. And since Kate was all over Coleman, I figured Alexis was the safest bet. Did they sleep together? Because let me tell you, I'm not sure how I feel about that—"

- "Why?"

- "I don't know, I think it would be pretty weird. Your mom had a child with the local bipolar crime boss and another by his crazy brother, who kept a pregnant woman hostage in a panic room. And now, she slept with the Police Commissioner shortly after being removed from her job, as the D.A., for a sex scandal with the Mayor? I mean, seriously Sam, my dad doesn't need that kind of drama."

Sam was furious by her friend's characterization of her mother.

- "What the hell are you trying to say, Maxie? I don't appreciate you talking about my mother that way, considering that your past isn't the best anyway. Um, let me think about this for a second, faking a pregnancy, supplying Lucky with drugs, making a bet with Logan that if he slept with Lulu, you'd sleep with him, and that's to name a few of your questionable antics. My mom's not some kind of social leper, you know? She's a damned good attorney, who had a few things against her, but that doesn't mean that she's not worthy of your father. He's the one that should be worried about being worthy of her,."

Maxie knew she was wrong for the way that she spoke about Alexis; she had a tendency to put her foot in her mouth.

- "I'm sorry, Sam, I really didn't mean for it to come out the way it did. Your mom is fantastic and super nice. I definitely wasn't trying to make it seem like she wasn't up to my dad's level."

Sam crossed her arms and glared at Maxie.

- "So, what were you trying to say then?"

- "I mean, Mac hasn't been in a relationship for a while, and the last serious relationship he had was with my mother… that was a trainwreck; I think I'm a good example of that. I just don't want him to get hurt. It's not as though Alexis has that great of a track record. Doesn't she date… criminals and crazy guys? I mean, isn't that where you get it from?"

Sam walked to her door and opened it.

- "Bye Maxie."

Maxie took her jacket off and sat down on the couch.

- "Come on, Sam! I'm serious. I'm worried about him. I think he likes your mother—"

Sam closed the door and sat down beside her friend.

- "Why would you say that?"

- "I think he's always liked her, but because they worked so closely together, he didn't want to get involved. Now that Alexis ran Claudia off the road—"

- "MAXIE!"

Maxie smiled apologetically.

- "Sorry."

- "Well, I think that it's a good thing. My mother would be dating someone other than Jerry and every other psychopath that might come her way, and your father would finally have a relationship. That's not a bad thing."

Maxie looked at her watch and stood up.

- "Well, I'm just telling you that Alexis better not turn Mac crazy. Anyway, I have to go. Kate's probably slept with Coleman, so I can only imagine her attitude if I'm late."

- "Alright, bye. And Maxie—"

- "Yup?"

- "If you talk about my mother like that again, I'll have to hurt you."

Maxie walked to the door smiling nervously.

- "No worries, Sam! Um, I'm going to keep my mouth shut… In fact, I'll send Alexis a basket of Pepto and ginger ale, because if she sounds anything like Mac, she's gonna need it, so… um, I'm gonna go!"

She quickly left the apartment leaving Sam to laugh in her wake.

* * *

He walked up to the house. While he did not notice Sam's car in the driveway, he sighed and knocked on the door anyway.

- "HOLD ON!"

He crossed his arms as he realized that it was Alexis coming to the door. He would have turned to leave, but he figured that he might as well see her; he had managed to avoid her at the wedding, but he could not manage to do so indefinitely.

When she finally came to the door, she was shocked to see him standing there.

- "Jason."

- "Alexis."

She opened the door for him to come in.

- "What are you doing here?"

- "I was looking for Sam—"

She frowned at him. It was not that she did not like him; she just did not want him dating her daughter.

- "Why didn't you call her—"

He showed her the cellphone in his hands.

- "Oh."

- "Yea, she forgot it—"

Alexis closed her eyes at the reminder that her daughter had stayed the night at his place.

- "She went home about an hour ago."

- "Thanks."

Jason turned to leave, but Alexis stopped him.

- "Jason wait; I think we should talk."

This was what he did not want to deal with.

- "Alexis—"

She put her hand up to indicate that she meant no harm.

- "I just want to talk to you. I already told my daughter that I wasn't going to meddle in her life. Considering the way things turned out the last time, I'm going to say what I need to say to you this one time, and then leave it alone. Any other issues, I'll speak to Sam—"

- "Fine."

- "Have a seat."

Jason sighed and sat down on the couch. Alexis paced for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts.

- "Okay. If you hurt my daughter, Jason, I swear before God, that I will hurt you."

Jason blankly stared at her.

- "That's what you wanted to tell me?"

She moved to sit across from him.

- "You don't understand. You left my daughter broken and fragile when you broke up last. You threatened her life and completely wrote her off. Since that debacle, she's picked herself up again. She's not some dependent plaything anymore, Jason. She's an independent woman who's made a life for herself. I don't want you dragging her back into your criminal world where she'll pull any stupid stunt just to remain with you. I don't want her getting shot again, I don't want her getting kidnapped, and I don't want her getting arrested. Do you hear me? I don't like that she's in this relationship with you, but I know that she's going to do whatever she wants despite what I say. I understand that. And even though I promised her that I wouldn't interfere, I'm just letting you know that if you hurt her, I will hurt you."

- "You're going to hurt… me?"

Alexis scoffed at the shocked look Jason had on his face.

- "Don't look so surprised. I might not affiliate much with the Cassidines, but their blood runs through my veins. I don't take kindly to anyone hurting my children."

- "Alexis, are you threatening me?"

Alexis stood up and walked to the door.

- "Nope. I'm just giving you a few tips. Goodbye Jason."

He nodded his head and made his way out; he stopped before leaving.

- "Alexis, I just want you to know that I have no plans on hurting Sam. She means a lot to me."

Alexis smiled at him.

- "Good. That's nice to know."

Jason walked out of the lake house dumbfounded.


	5. Cars and Computers

_Warning: Rubber boots needed._

_UNEDITED  
_

**Chapter Five**

**Cars and Computers**

- "Where the hell is my cell!"

Shortly after Maxie left, Sam realized that she did not have her cellphone. She searched up and down but it was nowhere to be found. She had a house line, but she never used it; in fact the only person who knew the phone number was her mother, and that was because Alexis had insisted that no normal human being should ever depend solely on his or her cell phone. Sam rolled her eyes as she dialed her mother's phone number.

Alexis was sitting on her couch reading the paper when the phone rang. She took her bicycle wheel glasses off and smiled at the phone.

- "Well, well, well! I never thought that I would ever see 'Samantha's Apartment' show up on my caller ID."

Sam shook her head and smiled.

- "Hello, Mother."

- "I thought you didn't need a land line? I thought it was archaic?"

- "I never said it was archaic—"

Alexis interrupted her laughing.

- "No, I believe you said it was old fashioned and out dated, and a waste of money—"

- "Which is why you pay for it."

Alexis sighed and shook her head.

- "Happily so, seeing as you've OBVIOUSLY lost your cell."

- "Yea. Do you have it?"

- "Nope, but Jason does; you left it at his place."

Sam blushed.

- "He came by?"

Before Alexis could answer, there was a knock at Sam's door.

- "Mom, I'll call you back."

Alexis had a feeling that Jason had arrived at Sam's place; she wanted to be able to tell her daughter what had happened with him before he could. Unfortunately, Sam hung up before she could stop her.

- "Sh!t."

Sam opened the door to her apartment to find Jason on the other side holding her cell phone out. She leaned her head against the door and smiled.

- "Thank you. I've been looking all over the place for that."

He smiled at her before leaning in to kiss her.

- "Glad to help."

She stood aside to let him into the apartment.

- "Did you stop by the lake house first?"

He looked uncomfortable; Sam picked up on his discomfort. She rubbed the side of her face.

- "Oh God, what did my mother say to you?"

He sighed and sat down on the couch.

- "Well, she told me that she wouldn't meddle—"

- "Yea, I'm sure she did—"

- "And she basically told me that she will hurt me if I did anything to hurt you."

Sam gaped at him for a few moments; she was not sure if he was being serious or exaggerating. However, because she knew that Jason was not entirely capable of lying, she became annoyed.

- "Are you kidding me? My mother said she would hurt you? Hurt you, hurt you? Or hurt you like have you thrown in jail?"

He nodded his head.

- "Hurt me, hurt me."

He noticed her agitation, so he continued.

- "Sam, you know how Alexis is; she's protective over you and your sisters."

Sam shook her head and paced the room.

- "No, that's not the point. Who says that! She doesn't want me with you because she thinks that you're dangerous, but now she's going around threatening you? What exactly did she tell you?"

- "She said that she was proud of the person that you've become since you and I broke up. She said that she didn't ever want to see you heartbroken like that again, and if it happened again, and I was the cause, she would hurt me. She brought up the Cassidines—"

Sam through up her hands in shock.

- "Are you KIDDING me? The CASSIDINES? What the hell is wrong with that woman? I'm going to talk to her."

Jason stood up and pulled her to him.

- "I hope you don't blame on talking to her right this instant? I was hoping that you would talk to me first."

She smiled at him coyly.

- "Talk? Is that what we're going to call what we did last night?"

He whisked her up and carried her to her bedroom.

* * *

Alexis knew that she was going to catch hell from her daughter for speaking to Jason. She was fairly certain that Sam would accuse her of being intrusive despite having promised that she would not be. Alexis did not care; she could not see Jason and not say anything to him about how he treated Sam previously. She had to make it clear to him that he was not dealing with the same kind of woman the second time around; Sam was an independent woman now.

- "Still, why the hell did you threaten him? That girl is going to blow a gasket when she hears about this."

The phone rang again; she picked it up quickly without looking at the I.D.

- "I'm sorry, honey—"

- "Honey? I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore."

Alexis rolled her eyes; it was Mac.

- "I thought you were Sam. What do you want?"

He was disappointed; he had hoped that the flowers would have helped.

- "Come on Lex, I really am sorry about hurting your feelings. I didn't mean to insinuate that you were old—"

- "Mac, what the hell else was I supposed to think? You might as well have suggested that Charlotte had her web inside my uterus—"

He was beyond apologetic for making her feel badly.

- "I'm so sorry, Lex. Did you get the flowers?"

She was confused; she had not received anything.

- "Flowers?"

Mac smacked himself in the head.

- "God, I'm going to kill Robin—"

She frowned.

- "Robin? You had Robin order flowers for you to send to me? You're so apologetic that you couldn't manage to order them yourself?"

Mac could not believe that he managed to mess up again; how did he continuously manage to put his foot in his mouth whenever speaking to Alexis?

- "Lex, I AM sorry! I just figured that she knew more about flowers, and would be able to choose a better bouquet than I could. It's all the same! I'm still sorry!"

- "Did you have her write out a card as well? Or did you have her put the standard apologetic signatures? 'I'm sorry that your AARP card got lost in the mail;' 'I'm sorry I didn't realize you got shiny new dentures;' 'I'm sorry—"

The doorbell rang. Alexis looked at the door; it was the deliveryman with the flowers. She got up to answer the door. Mac took the momentary silence to try and convince Alexis of his sincerity.

- "LEX, come on! I haven't done this in a really long time! This is really new to me. It's been years since I was in a relationship. Fine, I probably should've taken care of the flowers on my own, but—"

Alexis interrupted him to read the card's message.

- "'I apologize from the most profound depths of my heart for having offended you as I did. It was a cruel and malicious act, for which I have no one to blame but my chauvinistic male mind.'"

Mac shook his head in disbelief at Robin's idea of an apology written in his words.

- "Lex—"

Alexis shook her head and hung up the phone. She knew that she was being hard on him, but her feelings were really hurt by his insinuations, and she refused to let anyone in too easily; it seemed that the last time she did that, her daughter was kidnapped and nearly blown up. She refused to give her heart to another man—

- "Wait, what the hell am I talking about, give me heart? Mac and I are just friends. Lex, get it together! You're reading too much into all of this."

She looked at the lovely Calla Lilies Robin had ordered in her uncle's name. She had to smile because it was definitely something a man would do: have a woman order something nice to give to a woman he's interested in. She smiled for a moment before frowning.

- "God, you're making assumptions! Mac's known you for years and has shown zero interest; what in the world makes you think that something has suddenly changed."

Alexis rested her elbows on her knees and held her head up in her hands, as she stared at the flowers.

- "They ARE nice. I guess it's the thought that counts."

Kristina walked into the house from school.

- "Hey Mom."

Alexis continued to stare absent-mindedly at the flowers. Kristina walked up to her and waved her hand in front of her mother's face.

- "Earth to Alexis."

Alexis snapped out of her semi-conscious state and stared at her daughter.

- "Oh hi, sweetie. When did you get home?"

Kristina rolled her eyes.

- "Like 30 seconds ago."

Alexis stood up and kissed her daughter on the cheek.

- "I'm sorry honey. How was school?"

- "It was okay. Mom, I'm really sorry about this morning—"

Alexis put her hand up and interrupted her daughter.

- "Kristina, it's fine—"

- "No it's not, I came into your room without knocking and then made you feel bad—"

Alexis took Kristina's face in her hands.

- "Sweetheart, it's fine. I overreacted. I mean, what teenager would ever want to see her mother naked? I was just upset over something else, and took it out on you. It's fine, okay?"

Kristina nodded her head.

- "Okay, but what was bothering you?"

She smiled embarrassingly at her daughter.

- "Um, it's not important. Just know that none of this was your fault, okay? Now what do you think we should have for dinner?"

- "Well, I was actually planning on seeing Kiefer tonight—"

Alexis shook her head.

- "Kristina, it's a school night, and you're not going to get into the habit of blowing off dinner with your family to meet with Kiefer—"

Kristina shook her head in disbelief at her mother.

- "I thought you said you liked him?"

- "I do like him, but as I just said, it's a school night, and you're having dinner with your family—"

- "I have dinner with you every night."

- "Exactly, so you shouldn't be surprised that you're having dinner with us tonight again."

Kristina walked away from her mother in a huff.

- "This is so stupid!"

Alexis was growing tired of Kristina's attitude.

- "Kristina, let me explain something to you. You're not the adult in this house. If you had wanted to go out with Kiefer, you should have ASKED me beforehand. You don't tell me that you're going to blow dinner with your family on a school night to see him. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. Now lose the attitude, or you won't go out with him for the next two weeks."

Kristina was angry.

- "That is so not fair!"

Alexis glared at her daughter.

- "Kristina—"

- "Fine."

She left and went to her room. Alexis shook her head; she did not know where her innocent daughter went.

* * *

Mac called Robin after Alexis hung up on him… again.

- "Robin, what in the world was up with the card you sent with the flowers?"

- "Um, I don't know, Uncle Mac, what was wrong with it?"

He rubbed the side of his head as he spoke to his niece; he needed to make amends with Alexis.

- "Cruel and Malicious? Chauvinistic? That doesn't sound anything like me!"

Robin rolled her eyes on the other line.

- "You told me to order flowers and have them sent to Alexis' house. You told me to write an apology, but you didn't bother giving me an impression on how you wanted the card read. Sorry, but you should've known what I would say!"

Mac covered his face with his hands.

- "What in the world am I going to do? I think she's more mad at me now than she was before."

Robin smiled as she listened to her uncle whine.

- "It sounds to me as though you like Alexis—"

Mac did not really know how he felt about her.

- "No, I just—I don't know Robin, I just feel bad about this morning—"

Her stomach became queasy at the thought of her uncle and Alexis in bed together.

- "Uncle Mac, I don't need you to rehash that whole awkward moment to me. Maxie called me, and we were both traumatized; we really don't want to imagine you like that. Maybe you should talk to Patrick—"

While Mac had grown to like his nephew-in-law, he certainly was not going to talk to him about his private life.

- "I need to get out more."

- "You do. And you know what? I'm going to help you fix that."

He sighed into the phone; Robin was always attempting to help someone with his or her problems. She was a bit of a busy body.

- "No Robin, it's okay—"

- "Nope. I'm not taking no for an answer! I'll see you later, Uncle Mac. I love you!"

She hung the phone leaving him feeling apprehensive about what his niece might be up to.

* * *

Sam woke up later that afternoon in Jason's arms; she could never grow tired of waking up that way. She turned her body to face him. She gave him a sweet kiss on the neck. He groaned and looked at the tiny woman and rolled over on top of her.

- "Hi."

She smiled at him and stared into his deep blue eyes.

- "Hi. Did you sleep well?"

He was never expressive in his feelings, but she could always read his eyes.

- "I did. I'm glad that we got to this point again. I've missed you."

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

- "I missed you too. I think we needed to get to that point in our relationship so that we could, I don't know, become a stronger—"

She hesitated because she did not know what exactly she and Jason had become to each other. He kissed her again before finishing her sentence.

- "Couple."

Sam nodded her head.

- "Couple."

The couple made love once more. Unfortunately, in the middle of said lovemaking, Jason's phone began to ring. Sam screamed… in displeasure.

- "You better not pick that up!"

Jason was no more happy than she was.

- "I'm sorry, Sam; I have to get it."

This was one of the things she did not miss about being in a relationship with him.

- "Fine."

He groaned as he rolled off of her to retrieve his phone. As he answered, she got off of the bed and headed into her bathroom to shower.

After he got off of the phone, he poked his head into the bathroom.

- "Sam, I have to go."

She was all too familiar with the drill.

- "Okay. We'll talk later."

He walked into the bathroom, pulled back the curtain and grabbed her. He kissed her passionately, not caring that the shower was wetting him as well.

- "I'll see you later."

He let his hands wander for a few minutes before leaving. She turned the temperature of the water from hot to cold.

* * *

Alexis was placing the dinner plates on the table when Molly and Viola walked through the door.

- "Hi, Mommy."

Alexis put the plates down to give her daughter a kiss.

- "Hi baby. Vi, thanks so much for picking her up from science group. Do you want to have dinner with us?"

The nanny had been with Alexis since Kristina was born; she was like another member of the family.

- "Thanks Alexis, but I've got other plans tonight."

As she was leaving the house, she ran into Sam.

- "Hey Sam, how are you?"

Sam smiled at the nanny.

- "Viola, I'm good, thanks. Headed out?"

Viola winked at her.

- "Yea, I've got a date."

- "Oooh! Have fun!"

Sam walked into the house to find Alexis smiling innocently at her, as she seemed to hold Molly in front of her as a human shield.

- "Hi Mol!"

Molly tried to go give Sam a hug, but Alexis held her firmly in her spot.

- "Mom—"

- "Molly."

Sam smirked at her mother.

- "It's okay, Mom."

Alexis released Molly so that the girl could hug her sister.

- "Hey Sam."

- "How was school, Mol?"

- "Not bad, we discussed the molecular infusions."

Sam frowned. It seemed that the old Molly got, the harder it was to understand what she was saying.

- "Um, that sounds wonderful!"

Alexis smiled nervously at her two girls.

- "Molly, why don't you get changed and washed up; dinner will be here in twenty minutes."

- "Okay."

After Molly left the room, Alexis went back to setting the table as Sam glared at her. Alexis felt her daughter's stares burning a hole into her head.

- "Sam, if you're going to just glare at me and not say anything, can you get the glasses from the table and help me set the table; I assume you're staying for dinner?"

Sam crossed her arms in annoyance.

- "Mom, didn't you tell me that you weren't going to interfere?"

Alexis looked innocently at her daughter.

- "Honey, I didn't—"

- "What the hell do you call telling Jason that if he hurts me, you're going to open a can of Cassidine whoop ass on him?"

Alexis tried to control her laughter.

- "I never said that—"

- "You MIGHT AS WELL HAVE!"

- "Honey, calm down! Come on, I told him that that was all I was going to tell him. I have no intention of saying anything else to him, so you don't have to worry about that—"

Sam shook her head.

- "Mom, please don't say anything else to him—"

Alexis put the silverware down on the table and walked over to her daughter.

- "Sam, I'm serious, I won't. Look, I've seen the change in you, and I just don't want you to return to your former ways now that you're back in a relationship with him."

- "Mom, I won't. And I'll even give you the very limited permission to let me know if you notice that I'm slipping back into old habits… Speaking of slipping in—"

Sam pointed to the door; Mac was standing outside. Alexis turned around to see him standing there, before wagging her finger at her daughter.

- "Slipping in? You're disgusting."

She winked at her mother.

- "And yet you manage to keep up with the jokes. That doesn't say much about you, Mom."

Alexis shook her head and walked to the door.

- "Honey, finish setting the table for me please.

Seeing him standing there, she had the instinctive desire to cover herself up… with a burlap sack, a parka, and medieval armor. She sighed, and opened the door.

- "Hi Mac. This is an unexpected visit. Come in, I guess."

He walked into the house.

- "Hi Alexis. I'm sorry about stopping by unannounced. I just thought I should apologize, AGAIN. I swear I'm just putting my foot in my mouth, left and right, and I figured that if I stopped by and spoke to you, then you couldn't hang the phone up in my face—"

Alexis looked at the silverware on the table; they were having steak for dinner.

- "Um, I guess I can't do that if you're here."

Sam walked in carrying the glasses.

- "Hey Mac. Staying for dinner?"

Alexis glared at her daughter, who smiled back at her.

- "Hi Sam. Um, no, I'm actually going to Robin's tonight."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "Yea, perhaps you can have her write some more cards out for you—"

Sam did not know what she had missed since going home, but she was happy to have a front row seat for this round of MacLexis toss-about.

Mac blushed.

- "I'm really sorry, Lex. I didn't want to write something and then it came out all wrong."

Sam spied the fresh flowers on the sofa console table, she walked over and noticed the card sitting beside it.

- "Yea, nothing says 'I'm sorry' than 'blame my chauvinistic male mind.'"

Alexis walked over to Sam and grabbed the card.

- "Go to your room."

Sam laughed and walked out of the living room toward Kristina's room; she had not seen her since she got to the house.

Alexis turned back to Mac.

- "You know she's right though."

Mac shook his head apologetically.

- "I know she is, Alexis. Look, you're my friend, and I didn't mean to offend you. It was just weird for us to wake up like that, and then for you to ask me about a condom—"

Alexis cut her off as a realization hit her. She turned beet red.

- "Oh my God."

- "What's the matter?"

_**Flashback**_

_They were both completely undressed and making out in the middle of his bedroom._

_- "Alexis—"_

_- "Huh?"_

_He started to laugh aloud. _

_- "You're a car—"_

_She frowned at him._

_- "What?"_

_He gave her a peck on the lips._

_- "A Lexus. You're a luxury car."_

_She smiled at him._

_- "Well, you're a computer."_

_He smirked._

_- "I guess I am—"_

_She reached down._

_- "Can I see your hard drive?"_

_He kissed her again and moved her to the bed. He did all the right things to get her further into the mood, but nothing was working for him. After about fifteen minutes of attempts, he rolled off of her._

_- "I think I'm too drunk to drive a stick tonight."_

_Alexis sighed._

_- "Shame, my automatic is at home in the top drawer."_

_They both drunkenly retreated to their corners and quickly fell asleep._

_**End of Flashback**_

Alexis suppressed her laughter as she saw the look on Mac's face.

- "Um, I'm going to go home, now."

He reddened more than he had ever thought imaginable; he walked out of the house without turning back to look at her.

Once he was out of earshot, Alexis burst into hysterics causing all three of her girls to run into the living room.

Sam shook her head.

- "Mom, what happened?"

Alexis could hardly speak, she was laughing so hard.

- "Let's just say—Mac and I… we're even now."


	6. Breaking and Entering

_Okay, I think we SamLexis fans need a bit of an uplift, no? Let's move away from the negativity of the week, and into the light of positivity._

_Line of the week: "Can you see it, the halo is slightly crooked and slightly tarnished." – Helena on that witch Liz (Sorry Liz fans, I just can't stand her and what she's doing to Lucky)._

_UNEDITED  
_

**Chapter Six**

**Breaking and Entering**

After Alexis finally calmed down from her fits of hysterical laughter and the food had been delivered, the family sat down for dinner. Every so often, she would look down at her plate of food and crack up to herself; Kristina, who was not in the best of moods, was getting annoyed by her mother's cheeriness.

- "Care to share with the class what you're so happy about, Mom, or do you plan on cackling to yourself."

Sam smacked her sister in the arm.

- "Hey—"

Alexis cleared her throat as she attempted to control the next round of laughs.

- "Oh, my once sweet middle daughter, keep it up with the attitude, and I'll be laughing as they install pretty bars on your windows and bedroom doors. After the stunts you've been pulling lately, you really should be lucky that I've given you any freedom whatsoever; so I sincerely suggest that you tone down your attitude."

Kristina crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

- "Whatever."

Alexis shook her head; while she wondered where that sweet daughter of hers had gone, she was in too good of a mood to allow any form of teenage angst to bring her down from her high. She continued to eat happily as Sam eyed her.

- "So, Mom, what has you in such a great mood? I mean, I wasn't out of the room for that long. I want to say that I almost see an afterglow."

Alexis glared at her daughter while Molly laughed.

- "She looks like you after you've been with Jason—"

Sam pinched her sister's arm. Alexis put her fork down and stared at Sam before turning to Molly.

- "Baby, what would you know about what… that?"

Molly turned to look at Sam, but Alexis gently pulled her head to face her.

- "Don't look at your sister, talk to me. What did you see?"

Sam nervously ran her hands in her hair as Molly answered their mother.

- "Well, I went to Sam's apartment a couple of days ago because I wanted to use her hot tub—"

Alexis frowned.

- "How did you get there?"

Molly blushed; she tended to do that when she knew she did something wrong.

- "Well, I told Viola that I was going to go meet Sam; she walked me over to her apartment—"

Alexis sighed and shook her head.

- "So you lied?"

Molly blushed and nodded.

- "I'm sorry Mommy."

- "Alright, we'll deal with that later, contin—"

Sam interrupted.

- "Whoa whoa! I'm sorry, but she just admitted to breaking and entering—"

- "Um, I told her that we'd deal with that later; right now, I'd like to find out what happened with you and Jason in front of her. And, no, she told me that she had Viola drop her off at your house."

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "And how exactly did she get into my apartment?"

Molly shockingly looked at her sister; she could not believe that Sam was trying to throw her under the bus.

- "You gave me a key."

- "For emer—"

Alexis stopped Sam from interrupting again.

- "You gave your sister a key to your apartment?"

Sam covered her face with her hands; she was already annoyed by the conversation.

- "For EMERGENCIES, Mom! Her school is two blocks from my house—"

Alexis wasn't happy about that, but she understood where Sam was coming from by giving her sister a key.

- "Fine, I get it; but you should've spoken to me about it first. You can't just give a ten year old a key to an empty apartment. What if there was an accident inside, you were away, and no one knew that she had a key? How would I have known that she was there?"

Molly bit her lip the way her eldest sister did when she was nervous. Sam looked guiltily at her mother.

- "You're right; I'm sorry."

Alexis knew Sam was sincerely apologetic, and had acted out of concern for her sister by giving her the key.

- "That's fine, honey."

Sam had started to get up and clear the table; she was hoping that the conversation was forgotten. Unfortunately, her mother had a great memory… at least when heavy alcohol was not involved. Alexis stood up and took Sam by the arm, leading her to the sofa.

- "Sam, sit down; don't worry about the dishes, Molly will take care of them, since she's grounded—"

Molly was not happy to hear that.

- "MOMMY!"

- "Mommy, nothing! You deliberately lied to Viola, and then you entered Sam's apartment without her permission; she gave you the key to use in case of an emergency. What was your reason for being over there?"

Molly looked down at her feet.

- "I was doing an experiment on molecular infusion in Sam's hot tub. When I got out to get a ladle, I saw Sam and Jason having sex."

Kristina sat up straight in her chair; the conversation just got very interesting. Alexis looked as though she was about to faint. Sam turned white as a sheet as she stared from her sister to her mother.

- "Mom, that is NOT true—"

Alexis stood up and began pacing the room.

- "We were making out; I didn't even know Molly was there!"

Alexis stopped in her spot; she looked from Molly to Kristina.

- "Go to your rooms."

The girls began to protest, but Alexis put her hand up.

- "Do NOT argue with me right now! Go to your rooms!"

Molly and Kristina gave their eldest sister sympathetic smiles and walked out of the room. Alexis followed them to ensure that they went directly to their rooms, rather than eavesdrop; she came back and paced the room once more. Sam sat with her elbows on her knees and her hands covering her face; she did not know what her mother would say to her.

- "Mom—"

Alexis stopped and stared at her daughter. In her heart of hearts, she knew that she could not be upset with her because she was in her apartment, and did not expect her younger sister to be there.

- "Sam, I don't even know what to say. Your ten year old sister, who had access to your apartment because you allowed her to have a key, walked in on you and Jason having sex?"

Sam stared at her mother; she could not believe she actually believed that what Molly believed she saw was true.

- "Listen to me, there was only one person in that room that had something in their mouths, and it wasn't me—"

Sam saw Alexis' eyes widen.

- "OR Jason… at least not at that moment."

Alexis' mouth hung open.

- "You're choosing this time, when I'm freaking out about your sister seeing you have sex—"

- "WE WERE NOT HAVING SEX! We were making out."

Alexis shook her head.

- "Fine, whatever, but you choose this time to make a joke?"

- "I wasn't joking. Molly was the most undressed of us three! She was in her bathing-suit, goggles, and a snorkel. Jason and I were fully clothed… I might have been straddling him—"

- "Okay, I don't want to hear about your positions with Jason, Sam—"

- "Mom—"

- "Look, I'm going to talk to Molly about what she did, but I'm not going to let you off the hook just because she was in your place. I don't like that you're seeing Jason."

Sam let out an exasperated breath; she did not want to have this conversation again.

- "Mom—"

She continued her thought, ignoring the fact that Sam had attempted in to interrupt.

- "But, you're an adult, and there's nothing I can do to stop you from seeing him. However, I don't want you to be near your sisters when you're with him; it's bad enough that you're risking your life by being with him again, but I don't want your younger sisters to be targets as well—"

Sam was shocked.

- "You don't want me to be near them when I'm with him? Mom, what are you saying?"

Alexis sighed and took Sam's hands into her own.

- "Honey, I'm not saying that I don't want you around your sisters, EVER; what I'm saying is that I just don't want them around Jason. So, if he's with you, I would appreciate it if—"

- "The girls aren't in the vicinity. I get it."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter.

- "Honey, I love you and I want you to be safe, okay? And as much as I want to put a huge wall between you and Jason, I know I can't, but your sisters are still kids, and I have to be able to do for them, what I was unable to do for you. I don't want Molly walking in on—"

Sam blushed.

- "Mom, I get it. Now, can we just get off of this topic, please?"

- "Fine, I just have one more thing I need to say."

Sam looked up at her mother who was smiling from ear to ear.

- "What?"

- "It looks like you were the only one who took the walk of shame this morning."

Sam's mouth fell open. Alexis gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

- "Well, now that we've got that settled, I need to go speak to your sister!"

Alexis practically skipped out of the room, leaving Sam standing there in total shock.

* * *

Robin, Patrick and Maxie flipped on the light in the dark living room; they were startled to find Mac sitting there cradling a glass of scotch. Robin and Maxie walked up to him.

- "Uncle Mac?"

- "Dad?"

Mac had been so lost in thought that he did not even realize that his family had walked into the room; he was terribly embarrassed about what Alexis told him about the night's occurrence… or lack there of. He wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out; he did not know how he would ever be able to face her again.

Robin and Maxie looked at each other worriedly. Patrick walked over to them holding Emma in his arms.

- "Um, I think I've got an idea."

Robin crinkled up her nose.

- "Honey, she needs to be changed."

- "I know."

He held the baby in front of her uncle. Mac looked up at Patrick in disgust.

- "I love my niece, but can you do me the favor of getting her away from me right now? The smell coming from her, and the liquor in my hands, can't possibly be a good combination."

- "Well, I'm glad that you're alright, Mac. We were afraid you died—"

Robin smacked him for that comment.

- "Go change the baby, honey… Uncle Mac, what's the matter with you? You didn't even realize that we were in the room! My God, you were sitting in the dark!"

Maxie decided to add her two cents.

- "Yea, and not to mention causing me severe stomach issues all day! Mac, I'd appreciate it if you don't ever call me to tell me about a woman in your bed again—"

Mac quickly guzzled down the scotch in his hand before walking upstairs to his bedroom and slamming the door shut.

Robin shook her head at her cousin.

- "Good Job, Maxie! I really think you're in the wrong line of work; maybe you might consider working for a suicide hotline?"

Maxie put her hands on her hips.

- "Well, excuse me! I was going to tell him that he probably helped me out with that horrible story! I couldn't eat all day, AND I vomited in my mouth a few times as I thought about it… actually I think I'm about to do it again … I'm sure that I fit PERFECTLY in my new dress now!"

Robin rolled her eyes.

- "We need to figure out what's wrong with him!"

Patrick walked back into the room with a freshly changed Emma.

- "Where's Mac?"

Robin took the baby from him and pushed him toward the stairs.

- "He's in his room. Go talk to him."

- "Why do I need to go talk to him?"

Maxie jumped into the conversation again.

- "Because Robin and I don't want to hear about he and Alexis having sex!"

Patrick made a face at his wife.

- "And you think I do?"

She pushed him up the first step.

- "Just go, Patrick!"

- "Fine!

Patrick begrudgingly walked up to Mac's room and knocked on the door.

- "WHAT!"

He shook his head wanting to go back downstairs, but he realized that by doing so, he would be leaving the pan for the fire; Robin would kill him if he did not make the effort of luring Mac from his room.

Patrick took a deep breath and opened the door.

- "Mac—"

Mac was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

- "I don't remember telling you to come in here. I'm pretty sure this constitutes breaking and entering."

Patrick shook his head.

- "Actually when I knocked, you said "What" in a way that would lead a reasonable person to believe they were being invited inside; I think that's implied consent to enter."

Mac glared at him.

- "What the hell do you know? You cut into people like dinner meat for a living."

As terrified as he was of his practically father in law, who's gun was perhaps somewhere in the room, Patrick walked further into the room and sat on a chair in the corner.

- "Look, Mac, you've got Robin and Maxie worried downstairs. What happened?"

Mac rolled over and gave Patrick a look of despair and humiliation.

- "Do you promise not to laugh?"

- "Yes, I promise not to laugh."

- "Even though I woke up completely… you know… with Alexis; I just found out that the big and little hand of the clock pointed toward six-thirty the whole night."

Patrick frowned.

- "What? Your clock was broken? What the hell does that have to do with you and Alexis waking up naked—"

Mac tried again.

- "The dog didn't wag its tail."

- "Mac, you don't have a dog—"

Mac was annoyed.

- "I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH ALEXIS, PATRICK! I COULDN'T GET IT UP!"

A snicker was heard outside of the door. Mac got up from the bed and swung it open.

- "MAXIE!"

Maxie pulled Robin, who was hiding away from the door and holding Emma, into view.

- "And Robin, Daddy!"

Mac reddened at the sight of both of his girls eavesdropping.

- "How much did you hear?"

Maxie shook her head innocently.

- "Not much, Daddy—"

Mac blushed harder; Maxie only called him 'Daddy' when she was lying or caught red-handed. Robin walked into the room and patted her uncle on the back.

- "It's okay, Uncle Mac. It's perfectly normal that when you're inebriated, as you were last night, your ability to… perform… might be compromised. That's happened to Patrick—"

Patrick jumped in.

- "Robin, I don't think anyone in this room needs to hear about all of that. Thanks."

Robin looked at her husband and shrugged her shoulders.

- "Patrick—"

Mac stood at his bedroom door.

- "Everyone, out."

- "Daddy!"

Mac shook his head.

- "OUT."

Robin, Patrick, and Maxie reluctantly obliged. Before leaving, however, Maxie stopped to make one last comment.

- "You know, Daddy, at such an advanced age, you might want to consider the little blue—"

The door was slammed in her face.

- "IT WAS JUST A SUGGESTION! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE SO RUDE! WAY TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE!"

* * *

Alexis walked back into the living room; she was not shocked to see Sam was sitting on the couch.

- "Oh, you're still here; color me surprised."

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "You drop a lovely little piece of gossip like that in my lap, and then you walk out? Did you REALLY expect me to leave?"

Alexis poured two glasses of wine—

- "Make that three!"

Diane walked into the house. Alexis smiled.

- "Please, Diane, just let yourself in!"

She took her coat off.

- "Don't mind if I do, thank you."

Alexis shook her head and poured wine into a third glass. She handed a glass to Sam, and the other to Diane, while returning to grab her own.

- "What are you doing here, Diane?"

Diane made herself comfortable on the couch beside Sam.

- "I smelled a fresh bottle of wine being opened, so I came over! Why the hell do you think I'm here? Your LOVELY daughter invited me over to hear the latest gossip!"

Alexis pursed her lips at her daughter who sipped her wine innocently. Diane took a sip of her own wine as she watched her best friend stare at her daughter.

- "Oh leave her alone, Alexis! I want to hear about what happened with Mac. I swear; I was so proud that you walked that walk this morning; now, I'm displeased! Tell me something to lift this veil of shame—"

- 'Veil of shame? You were proud that I might have had a drunken one night stand."

Sam and Diane looked at each other, than back at Alexis.

- "YES!"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "You two are absolutely ridiculous."

- "Mom, it lets us know that you can let your guard down! Now, will you just tell us what happened."

Diane corrected Sam.

- "DIDN'T happen, Sam."

Alexis took a large gulp from her drink.

- "To make a long story short, after you left, Diane, Mac made a comment about me being a luxury car; so I said that he was a computer."

Sam and Diane laughed aloud.

- "How ORIGINAL! You're a Lexus! That Mac is a fast one!"

Diane snorted.

- "Clearly not, Sam! She didn't get to use his flash drive; isn't that right, Lex!"

Sam slapped Diane's arm.

- "Or the hard one!"

Diane began to choke as the wine she was swallowing went down the wrong pipe as she laughed at Sam's comment.

Alexis got up and smacked her best friend's back, perhaps harder than necessary, but Diane quickly stopped coughing.

- "I'm pretty sure my back is bruised, but nonetheless, thank you for that. Now, please continue… Lexus!"

Alexis raised her hand as though to smack Diane's back again; Diane cowered in feigned fear. Sam was getting impatient.

- "MOM! Come on!"

Alexis retook her seat on the chair and continued.

- "Well, as you two figured out, he couldn't exactly—"

Sam smiled.

- "Rise to the occasion?"

Alexis blushed. Despite the fact that her daughter was an adult whom she had not raised, it did not matter; she looked at Sam as one of her babies, and talking about her sexual encounters, or lack there of, was never going to be comfortable.

- "Yes."

Once again, Sam and Diane began to laugh… this time, uncontrollably.

- "Aww, poor Mac! Who knew he was the 'Little Engine that… COULDN'T!'"

Sam nearly spit her wine out.

- "Who said it was a little engine, Diane?"

Diane raised up her glass; Sam did the same.

- "Touché."

The two women clinked glasses.

Alexis could not help but laugh at the amusement her daughter and best friend took from her failed night.

- "You two are ridiculous, and you're going to hell!"

Sam put her glass down onto the coffee table; she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

- "Well, if you use Mac as a compass, I guess that's the direction he's pointing us!"

With that, Alexis spit the wine out of her mouth as she joined Sam and Diane in their hysterical laughter.

* * *

_**I really think I'm going to go to hell; I don't think it's normal to have such a gutter mind! LMAO.**_


	7. Bailouts and Stimuli

Partially edited.

**Chapter Seven**

**Bail-Outs and Stimuli**

Alexis sat in Kelly's enjoying her morning coffee, blueberry muffin, and newspaper, when Maxie walked in.

- "Ah, just who I wanted to see!"

Alexis put her paper down and looked surprisingly at the girl.

- "Me? Is there something going on with Sam?"

Maxie sat down at the table.

- "Huh? Nope, I'm sure if something were up with Sam, you'd hear from Diane."

Alexis took her reading glasses off.

- "Why would I hear from Diane about Sam, Maxie?"

- "Um, because I'm sure that any trouble that she'd get into will be on account of Jason. And believe me, I'm sure that Jason will get into trouble since he's practically got frequent flyer miles at the station. I mean, if only Mac could allow him to cash in on his miles. You know, for every 3,500 miles, he gets a free trip, but in this case it'll be a free trip out of jail."

Alexis stared at the girl as she rambled on.

- "Maxie—"

Maxie continued to ramble.

- "Seriously, Alexis, when Jason and Sam end up getting arrested, Diane will probably call you to take care of Sam since she's clearly not on her retainer—"

Alexis sighed and put her coffee down. It was too early in the morning for her to hear about her daughter's relationship with the Mob Enforcer.

- "Maxie, what do you want?"

Remembering what Sam had told her about saying anything bad about Alexis, Maxie smiled pleasantly and thought about what she wanted to say before blurting anything out.

- "What kind of Cassidine voodoo did you do to my father?"

As soon as she spoke, Maxie realized that thinking before she spoke was going to take more practice that she had originally thought.

Alexis, who perhaps should have been used to Maxie's thoughtless jabberings, was shocked by the girl's outburst.

- "What in the world are you talking about? I didn't do anything to Mac!"

- "Mac was just fine after my 'wedding'—"

Alexis cut her off.

- "Actually, he was pretty drunk—"

Maxie rebutted.

- "Apparently, so were you, which is how you ended up naked in his bed!"

Her comment was said a bit more loudly than Alexis would have liked; several patrons turned around to look at their table. Alexis blushed and covered her face. She counted to ten as she struggled to remember that one of her daughters was not sitting across from her; she could not ground the girl, or send her to her room, or make her life a living hell.

Maxie noticed Alexis' agitation; so she attempted to alleviate it.

- "Look Alexis—"

Alexis glared at the girl.

- "Don't speak. I don't know where you get off talking to me about any of this. Your father and I are adults. If you want to get into his business, that's perfectly fine. But what I do, and with whom is none of your concern."

Maxie frowned.

- "I'm sorry, but when I get woken up from my honeymoon to hear about how my father woke up with a naked woman in her bed, or how he had to send you flowers because he told you that you had tumbleweeds rolling in your uterus, it's my business!"

Alexis put her hands up in annoyance.

- "Whoa. This conversation has taken a turn that I'm not comfortable with. Now, I'm not admitting or denying what you've just said, but let me tell you something, you're not old enough to talk to me about where and how dressed or undressed I was when I woke up."

- "But—"

Alexis spoke to Maxie as though she were talking to one of her girls.

- "But nothing. I don't appreciate you coming here, interrupting my breakfast, and accusing me of doing something to your father. If he and I want to have sex until we're blue in the face, then that's our problem, not yours."

Maxie made a face.

- "That's something I did not need to visualize."

Alexis shrugged at the disgusted girl.

- "Well perhaps if you didn't stick your nose in other people's business, you wouldn't be imagining where your father was sticking—"

Maxie stood up quickly.

- "Um, okay… I get your point, Alexis. Just please do me a favor."

Alexis sighed.

- "What Maxie?"

She picked her purse up from the floor and grabbed her car keys from the table.

- "Um, if you're going to have awkward elderly sex with Mac, please make sure he uses the blue pill; you don't even want to IMAGINE his mood yesterday when we were over. His obvious problem… well, you clearly know what that problem was, put a serious damper on our family dinner."

Out of aggravation, Alexis smacked her hand hard on the table, causing her black coffee to spill over onto her grey suit.

- "GREAT!"

Maxie made haste to leave, but stuck her head back into the restaurant.

- "Um, I'm sure club soda'll get that right out."

Alexis shot Maxie an evil glare as she pulled out her cell phone.

- "GOODBYE MAXIE!"

As Maxie turned to leave, she ran into her father. She smiled nervously.

- "Hi Daddy! Um, bye Daddy!"

Her hasty demeanor confused Mac; he knew she was up to something, but he did not have the time to question her at that moment.

- "Okay. Bye, Maxie."

She left quickly.

When Mac walked into the diner, he saw, talking on the phone, what he assumed to be the reason behind daughter's prompt exit. He could have sworn he felt his ego shrink a bit.

* * *

Jason stared at her as she slept. He was amazed at the feelings that arose in him when she was around him. For someone who was supposed to be brain damaged, he was defeating the odds every time he was with her.

He brushed the hair from her face, which caused her to wake up. She looked at him and smiled.

- "Good morning."

He leaned in and gave her a kiss.

- "Hi."

She stretched and sat up.

- "What were you doing?"

- "Watching you sleep."

She leaned into him.

- "Well, I must say that I really like waking up to you looking at me."

He stood up and began walking out of the room; she called out after him.

- "Hey, where are you going?"

- "I'm making you breakfast."

She reached out to him.

- "Jason."

He turned around and looked at her.

- "Um, I think you've forgotten where you are."

- "I'm at your apartment."

She nodded her head.

- "And?"

He frowned. Sam got out of the bed, took his hand and led him into the kitchen. She opened a few cabinets and finally the refrigerator; there was no food in the house, save for a couple of bags of potato chips, popcorn, coffee, and boxes of tea.

- "I don't have any food."

The sight of the empty cabinets actually made him laugh.

- "I guess I forgot that you never really cooked."

She rolled her eyes.

- "Well, it wasn't until I lived with my mother that I realized that her inability to cook must be hereditary."

He shook his head and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

- "Where are you taking me?"

- "Shower. Then we've got to go and get you some breakfast."

* * *

Alexis was so preoccupied with blotting the coffee from her favorite suit that she did not notice that he had walked into the restaurant. He thought about turning around and leaving before she saw him, but he needed a cup of coffee, and Kelly's happened to make the best cup in town. He apprehensively walked toward her.

- "Hey, Lex."

She looked up, and for the first time noticed Mac standing in the restaurant; she raised her eyebrow to him.

- "Oh hi, Mac. How are you? Are you here to meet Robin, or even better, Emma, to tell them about our encounter?"

Mac smacked himself in the head.

- "I guess that's why Maxie ran out of here. She's such a blabbermouth! Gee, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't even talking to her about it—"

She made a face.

- "Well, I may have said I woke up with someone in my bed, but I never told her whom."

Alexis put the napkins onto the table; there was no sense in attempting to clean a ruined suit.

- "She clearly knew a lot more than that! Mac, she said I have tumbleweeds rolling in my uterus!"

He covered his face in embarrassment.

- I never said anything about tumbleweeds!"

She sighed.

- "That doesn't matter, Mac. She accused me of performing Cassidine voodoo because her DADDY was so insane… blah, blah, blah."

He put his hands up innocently.

- "I swear to you, Lex, I was talking to Patrick and she and Robin—"

She shook her head.

- "Robin AND Patrick! God, Mac! Who DIDN'T you tell?"

At that moment, Diane walked into the restaurant holding a garment bag. She smiled at Alexis, and nearly ran over in excitement at the sight of Mac standing at the table with her best friend. Instead she calmed herself, slightly, and walked over.

- "Alexis, here is a new suit, courtesy of your bedroom closet!"

Alexis smiled and took the suit from her. Diane patted Mac on the back.

- "What's going on short-stack, lame duck."

Diane smiled and walked to the counter to place her order.

Mac reddened and stared in disbelief at Alexis.

- "And YOU were mad at ME?"

If she did not know the law… scratch that…. If there had not been so many witnesses in Kelly's, Alexis would have murdered Diane on the spot for that comment. Instead, she shrugged nonchalantly in attempt to hide her mortification.

- "Well, I'm a woman; I'm supposed to talk to my best friend!"

- "And I can certainly assume that you told Sam too, which would only mean that she and Maxie are discussing this—"

Alexis put her hand up.

- "Yes, I told my daughter; but no, she will not be discussing this with Maxie."

- "How do you know that?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "Because unlike your daughter, MINE isn't a blabbermouth, and as amusing as she found the story, she's not much of a gossip. So, basically you've still got one person up on me, plus the 452 Maxie will tell by the end of the day, about this humiliating story—"

He shook his head.

- "Seriously, Lex, who do you think this is more embarrassing for? You?"

Alexis started naming on her hand what she had been called on in the past day.

- "Tumbleweeds, dusty uterus, rotten eggs, toothless old had."

- "I NEVER called you a toothless old had!"

- "You basically inferred that I was."

He thought about it for a second.

- "Fine! I'm SORRY about that. But, how about me? Short stack, lame duck?"

She mumbled.

- "Little Engine that Couldn't."

Mac shook his head.

- "God, Lex, I couldn't do what I was supposed to do. I'm thinking that's a bit more embarrassing than your abandoned and barricaded—"

Alexis rolled her eyes and interrupted him.

- "Well perhaps if you hadn't been watering your little tree with booze, it would've grown thick and strong."

Mac glared at Alexis, while Alexis did the same to Mac. Diane walked over to a staring contest between the two.

- "Hmm, is this an alternative to what you couldn't accomplish the other day? Because if it is, I can certainly leave; I wouldn't want to intrude."

They both looked at her.

- "Shut up!"

As she went to sip her coffee, Mac took the cup from her hands. He had been arguing with Alexis, that he never got his coffee; he needed to leave for the office.

- "Thank you very much."

She protested.

- "Hey! What in the world do you think you're doing?"

- "Well, according to your friend my tree needs something other than booze to grow. I'm just taking her advice."

He raised his cup to the women and walked out of the restaurant.

Diane put her hands on her hips.

- "That was disgustingly rude!"

Alexis shook her head.

- "Because that short-stack comment was incredibly well-mannered? Geez, Diane, why'd you say that?"

- "I couldn't help myself!"

Just then Sam and Jason walked in. While he lagged behind, Sam walked up to her mother.

- "Hey!"

Alexis smiled at her daughter.

- "Hi honey."

She leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

- "You can tell Jason that I won't hurt him; he doesn't have to stay at the door."

Sam laughed and turned around to see Jason standing at the door; someone walked in and accidentally hit him with the door. He stared icily at the person, who shook a bit, knowing full well that he had hit Jason Morgan, mob enforcer, with the door.

- "I'm sorry."

He simply nodded at the patron who quickly made his way to the counter.

Alexis shook his head.

- "That's amazing, you know. He puts the fear of God in some of this people, but he won't even come over here and say hello to me."

- "Mom, you threatened to hurt him—"

- "If he hurt you, honey! I threatened to hurt him, if he hurts you! Unlike your boyfriend, I don't make it my busy to kill people."

Diane put her fingers in her ears.

- "I didn't hear that."

Sam crossed her arms in defiance.

- "Mom—"

Diane piped in.

- "Well, you have to admit Lex, that if it weren't for the Jason's and Sonny's, you wouldn't be holding that FANTASTIC power suit in your hands."

Alexis rolled her eyes at her best friend.

- "Don't you have to bail Sonny out of some prison or something Diane?"

She grabbed her purse, and new cup of coffee.

- "Fine, Alexis! But let me tell you something, if you don't go after Mac soon, you're a fool. He was undressing you with his eyes, just now! It's obvious that that man wants to frisk the hell out of you—"

Sam smiled.

- "Oooh, did I miss something exciting? Has he threatened to give you a cavity search, Mom?"

Alexis took Sam's face in both of her hands; she stared her daughter directly in the eyes.

- "You need help."

She looked over to Diane.

- "And so do you. You two aren't normal! Maybe you should go to church or something; a fresh cup of holy water thrown on you might be of some use."

Sam laughed.

- "When exactly did you last go to church, Mom?"

Diane interjected.

- "I like their wine. It's a bit sweet, but nonetheless, not bad stuff. It's a good start to the day."

Sam and Alexis stared at the woman. Alexis spoke up.

- "Diane, if you didn't have a spot reserved for yourself in hell before, you definitely got upgraded to first class and the presidential suite for that comment. You go to church for the wine?"

The woman pursed her lips.

- "Don't judge ME! At least I go!"

Sam took a step to the side.

- "I don't want to stand to closely to you, Diane; there's a good chance that lightening will strike you down for that."

Diane made a face.

Alexis stared at her friend for a second before continuing her original thought.

- "You two are too invested in my sex life."

Sam frowned.

- "In your what, now?"

- "In my sex life."

Diane scoffed.

- "Are you kidding, Lex? Your supposed sex life is in such dire straits right now it needs a government bailout!"

Alexis threw her hands up in the air.

- "So, what? Your solution is that I just throw myself onto Mac?"

Diane shook her head.

- "Well, no. Not unless he prefers the top, in which case he throws himself onto you."

Sam nodded her head in agreement.

- "That's my kind of stimulus package."

Alexis grabbed her garment bag and headed to the bathroom.

- "You two need help."


	8. Spaghetti and Meatballs

UNEDITED

**Chapter Eight**

**Spaghetti and Meatballs**

After leaving her mother and Diane at Kelly's, instead of going to McCall and Jackal, P.I., Sam decided that she needed to go speak with her dear friend Maxie. She rode up the elevator thinking about what she was going to say.

When the elevator doors opened, Maxie turned around and noticed Sam exiting; she immediately became nervous.

- "Ooooh, um, hi Sam. I'm really really busy here, and Kate, you know, she really doesn't like for us to have—"

Sam put her hand up to stop Maxie from rambling on.

- "Maxie, stop. While I don't appreciate you speaking to my mother, especially about her sex life, I do think that you and I could help each other out."

Maxie calmed down a little bit. After leaving Alexis, she knew that it would only be a matter of time before Sam came after her; she was grateful that her friend's bark was proving, at least in this instance, worse than her bite.

- "Help each other? I don't need any help. Believe me! Spinelli and I are fantastic, we've come up with good uses for things that he holds dear: the Laptop, the _Ass_assin, the Jackal—"

Sam looked at Maxie with disgust evident on her face.

- "You know what? I don't need to hear about your sex life, Maxie."

The girl rolled her eyes.

- "Yea, well, I'm thinking it's far more interesting than our parents'."

Sam pulled up a chair.

- "And that's exactly why I'm here."

Maxie frowned.

- "What are you talking about?"

- "Look, both of our parents are consistently in our business, right? Mac hates Spinelli—"

- "And Alexis hates Jason."

Sam rubbed her face.

- "That's an understatement. Anyway, your father's clearly out of practice… or he needs to be charged up."

Maxie put her hands on her hips.

- "HEY! Call me crazy, Sam, but the electrician CLEARLY hasn't been around to read Alexis' meter in a while, either! She hasn't had an electrical current in her since, Jerry Jax! No sense in Mac sticking his plug into a busted outlet!"

Sam could not believe her ears.

- "Are you calling my mother washed out?"

- "I am if you're saying that my dad's wirings are shot, then yes I am! I take offense to that!"

Sam began to laugh, causing Maxie to frown.

- "What are you laughing at?"

- "The fact that we're about to start arguing about our parents' ability to perform. I don't know about you, but this conversation is taking a very disturbing turn."

Maxie joined Sam in her laughter; she realized her ridiculous the conversation actually was.

- "Okay, fine; I guess you're right. Now what did you want to talk about?"

Sam composed herself before she took a deep breath and explained her plan.

- "Okay, it seems quite obvious to me that your dad likes my mom—"

- "Well, it looks more like your mom likes my dad, actually."

Sam stared at Maxie for a few moments.

- "Okay, are you done? I mean, are you going to keep interrupting me, or will you actually let me get my thoughts out because I could just go to Robin with this instead of coming to you."

Maxie pouted for a second before relenting.

- "FINE! I'm sorry! Please continue."

- "Okay, I need my mother to have a life of her own; you need Mac to actually have a relationship because despite my mother's interesting choices in men, God knows it's been a long time since Mac has had anything."

Before Maxie could interrupt, Sam put her hand up and continued.

- "Basically, if we don't set those two up, they won't get together. If they don't get together, they'll be in our business. So—"

Maxie quickly picked up her phone and dialed; she put her finger up to Sam, asking her to wait a moment.

- "Hi, I need a reservation for two for tomorrow night—"

Sam smacked Maxie's arm and showed her eight fingers. Maxie looked confused.

- "Um, can you hold on one second please?"

She covered the receiver.

- "What?"

- "Do you really think Mac and Alexis will agree to just go to a restaurant on a date with Mac?"

Maxie did not think about how she would have gotten Mac to go to the restaurant, either.

- "Well, I guess you're right. So what, a reservation for eight of us? How would we play that off? You and Jason, Me and Spinelli, Robin and Patrick, and then your single mom, my single dad? Seriously?"

It was Sam's turn to frown.

- "Okay, give me the phone."

Maxis handed it to her. Sam smiled and spoke into the receiver.

- "Hi, sir, I'm so sorry to keep you on hold for so long! Okay, can you make us two separate reservations, but put the tables near each other? … Oh, for three people on one reservation, and two for the other. … The name is Jones and McCall, respectively. … Great, tomorrow night at eight; that's perfect!"

Sam hung up the phone and smiled at her friend.

- "It looks like we have a date for tomorrow at Lake View Manor!"

Maxie stuck her hand out for Sam to take; they shook in solidarity of their modern day parent trap.

* * *

Later on that evening, Sam walked into the lakehouse. She needed to set up the plan so that Alexis would go out to dinner with her the next evening.

- "Mom?"

Alexis was not in the living room, when Sam entered the house, she walked toward her mother's bedroom. She knocked on the door before entering.

- "Mom?"

Alexis, who had never been a heavy sleeper, awoke to the sound of her door opening. She rolled over and stretched.

- "Hi honey."

Sam felt bad for disturbing her.

- "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up."

She started to close the door, but her mother called after her.

- "Sam, it's okay; come back here."

She patted the bed for her daughter to sit. Sam walked back into the room and sat down. Alexis gave her hand a squeeze.

- "What's up?"

- "Well, I was just thinking that we don't spend enough time together. I thought we could have dinner together tomorrow."

Alexis smiled; she was always happy to spend time with her daughter. At the same time, however, her motherly instincts told her that Sam was up to something.

- "That's sweet, honey, but what are you up to?"

Sam feigned a look of shock.

- "Mom, really? Why do I have to be up to something? Can't I just want to spend some time with you? I mean, I feel like I haven't had one-on-one time with you—"

Now Alexis knew that something was up; Sam was not one to ever crave one-on-one time with her.

- "Ok, now I know you're up to something—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Why?"

- "One-on-one time? Seriously, Sam? That doesn't sound like you."

Sam began to play with one of the throw pillows on her mother's bed as she tried to think about how she could evade her mother's suspicions. Alexis knew her daughter's mind was working.

- "Sam—"

Alexis took the pillow from Sam's hands. She tapped her daughter on the chin.

- "What are you up to?"

- "Mom, I'm not up to anything! Is it really that hard to believe that I want to spend some time with you? I mean, we've had some problems the past few weeks, and I just wanted to… to make sure that we were really cool. That's it. But, if you don't want to go, then I understand; it's fine."

Sam moved to get off of the bed, but Alexis grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. Although the purpose of the dinner was to set her mother and Mac up, she was not lying when she said that she would like to spend some quality time with her mother. It seemed as though everything over the past couple of months was about Kristina; she would not have minded having some time alone with her mother.

Alexis sensed that Sam was telling the truth, if only partially. Even though they had spoken about the happenings of the past few weeks, and she had apologized to her daughter, she knew that Sam took everything to heart, especially in regard to their relationship. She passed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

- "Honey, I'm sorry. I do want to spend time with you! How about you and I spend the afternoon together, and then we'll go to dinner afterwards?"

Sam smiled like a kid in a candy store.

- "I'd like that."

Alexis smiled back at her daughter.

- "Good."

She looked at the clock and got out of bed.

- "Okay, it's almost five; I think it's time to get dinner started."

Sam frowned at her mother.

- "You mean you're going to order dinner, right?"

- "Nope. I got this recipe from one my pro bono clients. I went to the market and got everything she told me to buy."

Sam raised her eyebrow to her mother.

- "Wow, well, look at the time. I think I'm going to head home—"

Alexis grabbed her daughter.

- "Sorry, but tomorrow is Sam and Mom day, so today—"

- "You'll kill me to try to get out of it?"

She pulled her daughter to her and gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

- "Honey, you couldn't get me out of it if you tried."

Sam smiled at her mother.

- "Well, that's a relief, I guess."

Alexis put her arm around her daughter as they walked out of her bedroom.

- "So, since tomorrow is one-on-one with us, tonight, you're staying for dinner."

- "Um, I don't know about that."

- "Sam, you're staying, and you're going to help me cook."

She rubbed her face before looking at her mother.

- "And what exactly are you forcing me to make with you?"

Alexis bit her lip.

- "Spaghetti and meatballs."

Sam began to laugh.

- "A bit bitter are we?"

- "Honey, what are you talking about?"

- "Your desire to mash up meat, and turn them into several small balls, and fry them before smothering them in red sauce. I mean, of all things for you to want to learn how to cook a day after your tryst with Mac."

Alexis rolled her eyes as they entered the kitchen.

- "We did not have a tryst, Samantha."

Sam laughed and wagged her finger at her mother.

- "Ah, the full name! Someone's defensive!"

- "Whatever. Grab a bowl and large spoons."

She pulled out the recipe and grabbed the ingredients from the fridge. Sam put the bowl on the island, and sat on a stool; she had a feeling that this attempt was going to be a disaster. Alexis looked from the recipe to the ingredients, and back to the recipe again; she scratched her head.

- "Um, okay… I think I've got it."

She began to look for a pot; although she never cooked, Viola did, therefore she knew that there had to be a pot in the cupboard. Once she found it, she filled it with water, and put it on the stove to boil.

- "See, that wasn't so bad."

Sam looked at the recipe and shook her head; there was no way that her mother would be able to make this meal.

- "Mom, I think while the water is boiling you should work on the meatballs."

- "Okay. What do I do?"

Sam smiled at her mother.

- "Basically, according to this, you call up that new Indian restaurant and place an order for dinner."

Alexis snatched the recipe from her daughter.

- "Go to your room."

Sam hopped off of the stool.

- "Gladly."

She reached into her pocket for her car keys, but they were not there. Alexis chuckled and shook her head.

- "Looking for something, honey?"

- "Yeah, my car keys; they were in my pocket."

Alexis pushed Sam out of the kitchen toward the direction of her bedroom.

- "You'll get them back after dinner."

Sam shook her head.

- "And they call me a con; my mother just pick-pocketed me."

Alexis called out from the kitchen.

- "And Sam—"

Sam stopped walking.

- "Yea?"

- "Dinner'll be at six."

Sam rolled her eyes and continued on to her room.

* * *

Mac was sitting in his office at the police station looking over some crime scene investigators' photos when Maxie walked in.

- "Hey Mac."

He closed the file and stood up to give her a hug and kiss.

- "Hi sweetheart; what are you doing here?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

- "I just came by to see how you were doing ever since the whole limber timber incident—"

Mac turned red from embarrassment.

- "Can we not discuss this please?"

She put her hands up as an act of innocence.

- "Okay! Well, that's not really why I came by anyway. I wanted to take you out for dinner tomorrow night."

He was shocked; Maxie never wanted to take him out to dinner.

- "You want to treat me for dinner—"

She shook her head.

- "Oh, no! Sorry, is that how that came out? No! Let's be serious, Dad, that's your job! No, I think you, Robin, and I should go out for dinner! I mean when was the last time that just we three were able to, like, enjoy each other's company."

He crossed his arms and stared at his daughter.

- "Maxie, what are you up to?"

- "I'm not up to ANYTHING, Daddy! And I must say that I resent the accusation!"

Mac noticed the high pitched rise in her voice, and again, the referring to him as Daddy; something was definitely up.

- "Maxie."

She crossed her arms in front of her as well.

- "Daddy."

- "Maxie."

- "Dad."

- "Maxie."

- "MAC!"

- "Maxie, I'm not going to ask you again; what are you up to?"

Maxie rolled her eyes.

- "I already told you; I'm not up to anything! I just want to go to dinner at the Lake View Manor with you! Why are you making such a big deal out of this? Just take us!"

Mac shook his head; his ears were beginning to ring as Maxie's voice began to get more and more high-pitched as she become more defensive. He decided to back off.

- "Okay, fine, honey; you win. Tomorrow, we'll go to the Lake View Manor for dinner."

She squealed in excitement, hugged and kissed him, before running out of his office; she needed to buy an outfit for the hopefully memorable evening between Mac and Alexis.

He shook his head as he watched his daughter run out of the room; there was something going on and he hoped that it would not get his daughter arrested.

* * *

Alexis had spent the hour in the kitchen following the recipe directions as closely as possible. She boiled the water, put the spaghetti in, and let it boil. She cut up onions and green pepper and mixed it with the ground turkey. She added garlic and cracked an egg into it. After doing all of that, she began making the meat balls and setting them aside. She was quite pleased with herself seeing as everything looked like food instead of some alien concoction.

- "Ah, not so bad! Little ingrate tried to tell you that you couldn't do it! HA!"

She turned the radio on and began to sing as she continued to play with the meat.

- "'It's raining men! Hallelujah!'—Ha, what a crock. If it were really raining men, this wouldn't be the closest to meatballs I've gotten in a long time."

She rolled a large one and practically slammed it onto the plate. The more the song played, the more agitated she got; she changed the station.

- "'Upside down, you're turning me, you're giving love instinctively, around and round your turning me'— YEA! OOOOOOKAY! Don't I wish."

Another meatball was flung onto the plate, and the radio station was changed again.

- "'One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do'—Oh you've GOT to be kidding me!"

She turned the radio off.

At six o'clock, she set the dinner table for four; Kristina and Molly would be home shortly from their extracurricular activities. She put the food on the table and cleaned up the kitchen. When she went to take the garbage out, Sam walked out of her room.

- "All done?"

Alexis smiled.

- "Yup! The food's on the table already waiting for—"

Kristina and Molly walked into the house.

- "Speaking of the devils."

Kristina gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, while Molly gave her mother a hug; Alexis kissed her daughter on the top of the head.

- "How was your day?"

Kristina's answers were typically short and to the point.

- "Fine."

Molly, on the other hand, usually relayed her day from alpha to omega.

- "Oh, Mommy, it was great. We're learning about haiku's in English and iambic pentameters—"

Sam put her hand up.

- "Whoa, can we have this conversation later, like when I'm not here?"

Alexis had to agree with her eldest daughter; she did not want her youngest daughter's relay of prose to ostracize Sam. It hurt her heart that her daughter had been deprived of a proper education, but she knew that it was not Sam's fault; she loved her nonetheless, and appreciated the fact that while she and the girls had book-smarts, Sam had an excessive amount of street-smarts, none of them could ever imagine to match.

- "I agree with Sam, baby. Why don't you go change and wash up for dinner."

Sam smiled at her little sister.

- "Yea, and get this, Mol, Mom cooked!"

Molly gave her sister a worried look.

- "Are you serious?"

Sam nodded her head before walking over to the table to take a look at the food waiting for them. It looks pretty decent. In fact, it looked quite appetizing.

- "I'm serious! Let's just pray that we live to tell about it."

Alexis rolled her eyes before putting the garbage on the porch; she would bring it to the can later.

- "Whatever."

While Molly and Kristina went to change, Sam continued to inspect the food.

- "Mom, seriously, I'm impressed! This looks pretty good! I'm actually curious to taste it!"

When Sam took a fork to stick into the unserved food, Alexis smacked her hand and snatched the fork back.

- "You'll wait until after your sisters come back."

Sam pouted and sat down.

- "Fine."

- "I worked really hard on this, so you all better like it."

Sam smiled.

- "Well, let's hope we're alive after the first bite; I think that's a more realistic goal."

Alexis smacked her daughter in the head before taking a seat herself. Within seconds, Kristina and Molly were joining them at the table.

Sam rubbed her hands together anticipating the taste of her mother's first home-cooked meal.

- "Okay! Um, do you think we should bless the food first?"

Kristina nodded her head in agreement.

- "I think that considering the source, we might want to pray to many different Gods."

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

- "Don't you start too."

She stood up and began serving the food; they all waited for her to sit down and finish serving before they took a bite into it. Once she was seated, they all looked at each other. Alexis smiled.

- "Oh come on! Dig in!"

Molly moved the food around her plate.

- "Mom, where's the first aid kit?"

Kristina nervously did the same.

- "Seriously, is there a paramedic on hand who can pump our stomachs if anything goes awry?"

Sam looked up to the ceiling.

- "Dear God, I know that my mother here doesn't care to talk to you, but, um, if we don't survive this, can't you please make sure that Mom ends up working in heaven's kitchen, learning how to cook? I ask you this, not out of a desire to kill the other angels, which obviously is impossible, but so that in her next life, she's got the skills to not endanger the lives of her children again."

Alexis sighed.

- "You girls are so damn ungrateful! I slaved away in that kitchen! It was hard work!"

Sam relented and nudged her sisters. All three of the girls took a bite. Sam put her fork down and looked at her mother.

- "That's actually not bad! Wow!"

- "Yea, Mommy, it's pretty good!"

Kristina took another bite before feeling something odd in her mouth. She took it out.

- "Hmm, yea, other than the egg shells, it's really not bad at all."

Alexis smiled proudly.

- "While, that's just a minor inconvenience! I'm so happy you like it!"

Sam got up promptly from the table.

- "Honey, where are you going?"

- "I need to go put the food in my room in the fridge for tomorrow."

Alexis and the girls were confused.

- "What are you talking about?"

- "Why do you have food in your room?"

- "Samantha."

Sam walked out without answering them. They all got up from the table to follow her. When they got into her room, they were hit by the smell of strong Indian spices; Alexis was shocked.

- "Where in the hell did this come from?"

Sam grabbed a bag and handed another to Kristina.

- "So, it seems that new Indian restaurant delivers."

Alexis crossed her arms.

- "And how in the world didn't I hear them come in? I would've heard them at either door!"

Sam followed Kristina out to the kitchen.

- "Not if you paid them twenty extra dollars to not park in front of the house, and to deliver to my window."

Alexis shook her head and looked up to the ceiling.

- "Dear God, if Sam doesn't make it out of here alive, can you please make sure that her bed is right next to the fire? Thanks."

She walked out of the bedroom smiling proudly at the fact that they would not be eating take-out for the first time in years.


	9. Walmart's Basement Boutique

UNEDITED

**Chapter Nine**

**Walmart's Basement Boutique**

Sam walked into Jason's penthouse with a large smile on her face. She walked directly up to him and gave him a passionate kiss. He was taken aback.

- "What was that about?"

She smiled at him.

- "I just had a very nice dinner with my family."

He was always happy that she finally got the family that she never had growing up.

- "Where did Alexis order from?"

- "Ah, and that's where you're going to be shocked! My mother actually made dinner!"

Jason rubbed his chin.

- "Do you need anything? Pepto? Maalox?"

She slapped him on his chest.

- "Will you quit it? She was so proud of herself! I mean, I even ordered food from that new Indian Restaurant downtown—"

- "The one you've wanted to try?"

- "Yeah. I ordered from there because I was sure that she was going to either burn the food or it would be inedible!"

Jason smiled at her.

- "And it was good?"

She nodded.

- "Yea! I mean, minus the egg shells—"

- "Egg shells?"

- "Well, she made spaghetti and meatballs. Anyway, it was pretty decent!"

He laughed and shook his head.

- "Wow, who knew that Alexis would be able to pull something like that off? That's amazing."

- "That it was. You should've seen the look on her face!"

He leaned in and kissed her. She smiled.

- "I guess it's my turn. What was that for?"

- "I don't know; it looks like Alexis isn't the only person who was proud."

She walked over to the couch and sat down.

- "I guess I was. Anyway, that wasn't the only thing that made me happy. My mother and I talked."

- "What did you two talk about?"

She bit her lip and played with a pillow on the couch.

- "Well, Maxie and I decided that we should probably set up our parents."

Jason sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch.

- "You want to set up Mac and Alexis? Why?"

- "Look, my mother hasn't been in a relationship, rather, a stable relationship in a really long time. I would say that Ric was probably the most stable of a relationship that she had, but—"

She looked down; she was still ashamed over what she had done to her mother. The mistake that she had made with Ric was something for which she would never forgive herself. Jason sensed her discomfort.

- "Sam."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He wiped the stray tear that escaped and rolled down her cheek.

- "Alexis forgave you for that."

She nodded her head.

- "I know, I just haven't forgiven myself for it. I have done some despicable things in my life, and yet the two things that I still can't allow myself to get passed were forgiven by the two people who mean the world to me."

He moved over and sat down on the couch; he knew that the other thing she was referring to was when she allowed Jake to be kidnapped by a mentally unstable woman.

- "Look, I know that I can't tell you how to feel, Sam, but I do forgive you for that. Your mom forgives you too."

She sighed and looked at him.

- "Look at this! You have me crying! I was telling you about my great day—"

There was a knock on the door. He kissed her tenderly before getting up to answer it; it was Alexis.

- "Hi Jason, is Sam—"

He stepped aside and pointed to the couch. Alexis stepped in and smiled.

- "Well, either you're inviting me in, or my daughter is here."

He looked back at the couch; it was empty.

- "She's here."

Alexis snapped her fingers and pointed amusingly at him.

- "She's hiding."

Jason crossed his arms and waited for the impending explanation; he did not have to wait long.

- "Sam's grounded."

- "Grounded?"

She took her jacket off and dropped her purse onto the couch.

- "Yup, for failure to believe in her mother's abilities."

- "You grounded a thirty year old—"

- "Twenty-nine year old, and yes I did."

- "Does that matter? Sam's an adult."

Alexis stared at him.

- "No it doesn't matter; I'm her mother."

Jason knew better than to argue with Alexis about that. She made herself comfortable on the couch.

- "SAM! I'm NOT leaving here without you!"

Sam was hiding out in the kitchen; considering her mother's incredible feat from that evening, it would not have shocked her if Alexis walked into the kitchen to prove to Jason that she did in fact make the spaghetti and meatballs. Because she knew that her mother would not have hesitated to undercook, if she even knew what that was, or add something awry into the meatballs, to make Jason sick for a few days just so he could not come near her, Sam decided to come out.

- "Hey Mom."

Alexis turned around on the couch and smiled at her daughter.

- "Ah, there she goes my prison escapee."

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Mom, this is ridiculous."

Alexis put her hands on her hips.

- "You ordered out when you knew I was cooking!"

Jason jumped into the conversation.

- "Could you blame her? YOU were cooking. What made you cook in the first place?"

She glared at him for his interruption.

- "I wanted to see what it felt like to fry balls."

Jason put his hands up and walked out of the room. Sam shook her head at her mother.

- "You're kidding about grounding me, aren't you?"

- "Would I have risked my life coming to this place if I was kidding? Nope. Come on kiddo."

Sam could not believe her mother was holding her hostage at the house for the night.

- "Can I at least say bye to Jason?"

Alexis nodded her head.

- "Yes you may, but I would suggest you do it quickly; the pots and pans are getting sticky!"

Sam rolled her eyes once more.

- "Just for ordering take-out, something you've taught me to do for the past I don't even know how many years! You're always saying how we should never trust your cooking of anything outside of popcorn. My goodness, I won't even drink your coffee! YOU won't even drink your coffee!"

Alexis was not really mad at her daughter; she actually just wanted her to, for once, spend a night with her family, especially since she was spending the following day with her. In addition, Alexis did not want to have to clean the kitchen after she slaved away cooking in there; she decided that if cooking would entail such a burden she would not ever attempt it again… unless, of course, Sam was over; she could always count on her daughter to do something for which she could be 'grounded.'

- "Well, that's beside the point! Hurry along; the kitchen is awaiting your return, Cinderella."

Sam walked out of the room to find Jason. She gave him a passionate kiss, passing her hands along his chiseled chest; she hated to leave him.

- "I've gotta go."

He was disappointed.

- "Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

- "I know that she can't really ground me—"

He gave her a look.

- "How'd you get here?"

- "Let's just say by way of my pumpkin chariot... also known as a cab."

Alexis called out for her.

- "SAM!"

Jason pulled her into another embrace.

- "Well, try your best to get her a broomstick to ride tomorrow."

Sam smacked him hard on the chest.

- "HEY! I think you've been hanging around Maxie too long."

She winked at him and gave him a peck on the lips before turning to leave.

- "I'll see you tomorrow night."

He smiled.

- "Unless your mother grounds you again for the stunt you're about to pull."

She shrugged.

- "That's the chance I'm willing to take."

She walked out of the room and toward her mother.

- "I'm ready warden."

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.

- "How'd you get out of the house anyway?"

- "The window."

Alexis laughed to herself; she imagined that had she raised Sam, that would probably have been her chosen method of sneaking out of the house.

- "I seriously am going to have to put bars on your window!"

Sam shockingly looked at her mother, hoping that she was not being serious.

- "Mom—"

- "I'm just kidding. Although, you can tell Jason that whatever broomstick he thinks I'll be riding tomorrow, will be nothing like the one he'll—"

Sam stopped and stared at her mother.

- "MOM!"

She put her hands up innocently.

- "I'm just saying; prison's a tough place."

Sam rolled her eyes as they walked out of the apartment.

* * *

Maxie called Robin incessantly.

- "Come on Robin! You like this kind of stuff!"

Robin continued to decline becoming involved in her cousin's and Sam's plan of setting their uncle up with Alexis. She wanted to, for once, prove Patrick wrong about his opinion that she liked to meddle in other people's affairs.

- "Maxie, for the seventy first time, I'm not getting in this!"

- "WHY? This is SO unlike you! I'm totally disappointed!"

Robin shrugged her shoulders.

- "I guess you are."

She hung up the phone.

Maxie screamed at the phone; that had been the fifth time Robin hung up on her. She was going to have to step up her mode of persuasion.

She grabbed her purse from the chair and left the apartment in a huff.

* * *

The next morning, Alexis woke up refreshed and feeling great; there was nothing like waking up and having all three of her girls under one roof. She rolled over and looked at the clock; it was ten o'clock; Kristina and Molly were already at school. She and Sam had plans to spend the afternoon together, but since she made her daughter spend the night, she had a better plan.

She got out of bed, and walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth. Once she was done, she went to Sam's room. She let herself in; Sam was, of course still asleep. She passed her hand along her daughter's cheek.

- "Sam, honey, wake up."

Her daughter groaned in agitation of being awoken.

- "Mom, I cleaned the kitchen already!"

Alexis smiled; Sam had cleaned the mess in the kitchen for about two hours before going to bed.

- "And I'm going to assume you did a great job."

Sam opened one eye.

- "What do you mean you're gong to assume I did a great job? Don't you plan on going in there sometime, you know, to check to see that the work you made me do in there was up to par?"

Alexis shook her head.

- "Nope. I'm done with the cooking. All I need is a microwave for my popcorn and leftovers, and a fridge for drinks."

Sam covered her head with her pillow.

- "Go away."

Alexis bent down and lifted the pillow slightly.

- "That's a shame, honey, I thought you would be interested in a day at the spa and shopping. I know that you have tomboy tendencies, seeing as you don't carry a purse… ever… but I thought you'd enjoy a day of pampering. Oh well, I guess I was wrong."

Sam looked at her mother with raised eyebrows.

- "I like the spa."

Alexis feigned a shocking expression.

- "Really? Because I figured that you would prefer a day at the batting cages or something."

Sam hit her mother with her pillow and got out of the bed.

- "I'll be ready in twenty minutes."

Alexis laughed at her daughter as she watched her head into her bathroom.

- "FOR WHAT?"

Sam turned back and glared at her mother before smiling back.

- "Thanks Mom."

Alexis picked the pillow up from the floor tossed it onto the bed.

- "You're very welcome, honey."

- "I cannot believe you're making me do this."

* * *

Robin and Maxie walked into their childhood home; they needed to make sure that Mac looked his best for the date.

Maxie put her purse down on the couch and looked at her cousin.

- "What are you talking about? You're the one who's ALWAYS trying to hook people up!"

Robin took her jacket off and hung it on the hook before making her way up the steps to her uncle's room.

- "Will you be quiet and come help me find something for him to wear?"

Maxie squealed in delight.

- "I love it when you're cooperative!"

- "You didn't give me much of a choice, Maxie! You kept calling, and you wouldn't leave my house. Patrick told me that if I didn't go to this dinner, he would."

Maxie was confused.

- "What would have been so bad about that?"

- "That would be suicide Maxie! Mac is not going to be happy with what we're doing; do you really think he'd want my husband, whom he already doesn't particularly care for to be a part of it? I want this to be a success, but I don't want to be a widow in the process."

Maxie rolled her eyes and began rummaging through Mac's closet.

- "Please, Mac wouldn't hurt him."

- "Mac wouldn't hurt whom?"

The girls turned around to find Mac standing in his room.

- "Uncle Mac—"

- "Daddy—"

He shook his head and pulled Maxie away from his closet and clothes.

- "What are you doing in my room? And why are you searching through my stuff?"

Maxie jumped in to answer her uncle's questions.

- "Well, you remember that you're taking us out to dinner tonight right?"

- "Yes."

- "Well, we just wanted to make sure that you look your best when you do so."

He eyed his daughter suspiciously.

- "Are you trying to say that I look like a slob when I go out?"

Robin jumped in before Maxie said something ridiculous.

- "No! No, Uncle Mac. I think what Maxie is trying to say in her snobby fashionista kind of way is that this restaurant is pretty top notch, and um, she wants to, as junior editor of Couture, make sure that you look more handsome than you normally do. You know, because you just never know what paparazzi is going to take a picture of her—"

Mac crossed his arms in front of him; he was incredulous of their excuses. Since the day before when Maxie first asked him to dinner, he had a feeling that she was up to something; now he was more than certain that Robin was in on it too.

- "Paparazzi?"

Maxie nodded her head in agreement.

- "Yup. You know those people who follow celebrities like me around with cameras. Daddy, I really think that you should try and do something like that because I have to say that it isn't—"

Mac tried to interrupt her.

- "Maxie—"

She continued.

- "Safe."

She smiled innocently at her father, making sure to bat her eyes. Robin, on the other hand, squeezed the bridge of her nose, and sighed.

- "Uncle Mac, you know how self-centered Maxie is; can't you just entertain her? For tonight? Please?"

He noted the sense of pleading in his niece's voice. Robin had never really given him too much trouble, so he knew that whatever Maxie got her involved in, she was doing so out of coercion.

- "Fine. Maxie what have you chosen?"

Maxie went back into his closet looking disapprovingly at his attire; she needed to make sure that her uncle was more handsome and polished than he normally was.

- "I haven't chosen anything from these cheap suits."

Robin smacked herself on the forehead; it was astounding to her that her cousin, who was 'married' to a guy who worked for the mob, had not yet gotten herself killed with that big mouth.

Mac did not bother saying anything to his daughter; he was used to her perpetual diarrhea of the mouth.

- "Since I clearly got my suits at the 99 cents store and Walmart's basement, why don't you—"

Maxie was already on it.

- "Don't worry, Daddy, I'm going to get you something. While I do that, Robin's going to take you for a haircut."

- "I am?"

Maxie glared at her sister.

- "Yes, you are."

Robin covered her face; she did not know what she ever did to deserve such a crazy cousin.

- "Okay fine. Uncle Mac, let's go get you a haircut."

Mac scoffed and shook his head.

- "Ooooookay. Maxie, we'll be back."

She held her hand out; he looked from it to her.

- "What?"

- "Daddy, I need money! Suits aren't free!"

- "I know. I wear one everyday for work."

She pouted.

- "Daddy!"

- "Maxie, I'm not giving you any money. Either you make do with what I've got in my closet, or you figure something else out."

She crossed her arms against her chest and rolled her eyes.

- "FINE! You want to look like you've spent your entire day fighting sex offenders and murderers, that's fine! You want me to look bad in front of the many people who'll be undoubtedly waiting to see me at the restaurant and ruin a wonderful career before it's started, that's just fine, Daddy! I'll just move back home and live in my room forever."

He walked over to her and reached into his pocket. Her face lit up, but quickly dimmed when she saw that all he was pulling out of his pocket was a packet of tissues.

- "Oh sweetheart, you don't know how happy I would be to see you move back home and away from that thug you call a 'husband' Spinelli."

He took a tissue from the packet and wiped his crocodile tears.

- "It really does bring tears to a proud father's eyes. Thank you for that."

He kissed her on the top of the head and walked out of the room. Robin laughed and shrugged her shoulders at her sister.

- "Sorry. I'll be sure to give the paparazzi a false lead on your whereabouts before you leave the house. We wouldn't want them following you to take a picture."

Maxie scowled.

- "You're paying me back for half of his suit, Robin."

Robin laughed.

- "Sure! Just charge it to my, 'No way in hell' account."

With that, she followed her uncle out of the room, leaving Maxie to rummage through her father's closet for something for him to wear.

* * *

Sam and Alexis had a very pleasant afternoon of pampering at the spa. Sam made sure that her mother got her hair, nails, and feet done. By the time they left the spa, Alexis, while always stunning, looked like a million bucks. Sam smiled at the prospect that by day's end, her mother would be on the fast track to dating the police commissioner.

Alexis saw the smiled on her daughter's face.

- "What are you so happy about?"

Sam looked at her.

- "I just had a really good day, that's all. Thanks, Mom."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter as they walked to the car.

- "You're welcome, honey. I had a great time hanging with you as well."

They got inside the car and headed back to Sam's apartment; she needed to pick up an outfit for dinner.

- "Why are you squirming?"

Alexis had been shifting back and forth in her seat since they got into the car, and more so when they hit a bump in the street.

- "Um, I think there might be some wax—"

Sam made a face.

- "Mom! Seriously? I did not need to hear that."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "Look, you're the one who forced me to get a Brazilian! Other than the sheer pain of being ripped bare, I'm a little sore right now, and there might be some wax still… well you know. God, why'd you make me get one anyway?"

Sam smiled as she looked down at her hands.

- "Um, well, you just never know when… Well, you just never know, and CLEARLY that was established the other night with Mac."

Alexis blushed.

- "Don't remind me. And thank you VERY much for the tip, honey! I HAVE had one or two done in my lifetime, I just don't like to put myself in that kind of pain unless I'm sure that it would be for some good cause. Today was just a waste."

Sam looked out of the window so her mother could not see the large grin on her face.

- "It's never a waste, Mom."

Alexis pulled up to the apartment.

- "Give me just five minutes, you don't have to come up."

- "Okay."

While Sam ran upstairs, Alexis decided to call Diane; her best friend picked up rather quickly.

- "Hey Lex, what's up?"

- "Sam's acting pretty funny right now. Has she said anything to you?"

Diane smiled on the other line; Sam had in fact called her and told her about her plan for her mother.

- "Nooo! What's the gossip? Is the little con-artist up to something?"

- "Diane."

- "Lex, you know I'm only teasing. No, she hasn't said a thing to me. I mean, it's not like she and I have gabfests. I like your daughter and all, but seriously, we don't have much in common other than the fact that she's sleeping with the mob enforcer whom I defend, graciously! I wear designer suits, she wears what I assume to be designer jeans. I wear pumps and stilettos, and she wears gladiator open toed boots. You know, I NEVER understood the point in shoes like that! It's really just insane why anyone living in Port Charles, or ANYWHERE in these here parts of the good ol' U.S. of A would ever purchase shoes like that! Oh well, I guess it's all in the name of fashion."

Alexis laughed.

- "This here parts of the good ol' U.S. of A, Diane? You don't like a hillbilly! What in the world has gotten into you?

Diane began tying a knot in the lasso she was playing with.

- "Um, let's just say that Max and I have dressed up for Halloween, and you've caught me in character."

Alexis' stomach turned at the image.

- "Ok, I'm going to hang up now. You, you have fun—"

She heard a 'Yee-haw' in the background.

Diane had accidentally dropped the phone since Max had tackled her.

- "It's time to ride the pony cowgirl!"

Diane pushed him away from her.

- "I'm sorry, dear fella, I only like horses!"

She grabbed the phone.

- "Sorry Lex, I have to go."

Alexis looked at the phone in utter disgust.

- "BYE!"

She hung up the phone; she was highly disturbed by her friend's sexual proclivities.

Sam opened the door; Alexis was startled.

- "Sorry! I didn't realize you were lost in thought."

Alexis put the car in gear and pulled off toward the lake house.

- "Yeah, I just heard more than I needed to on a phone call."

Sam laughed aloud.

- "Did you call Diane?"

- "And what clued you in on that!"

Both women laughed at the ridiculousness that ensued in relation to Diane Miller. In fact, the entire car ride to the lake house was filled with laughter as the women talked about the great day they had had together.

When they pulled up to the lake house, Sam looked at her watch and smiled. Alexis looked at her daughter again.

- "Okay, what's going on?"

- "What?"

Alexis stepped inside of the house.

- "You've been eying the time all day! You made me get a mani-pedi and my hair done—"

- "Isn't that what you do at the spa?"

- "Yea."

- "So? How's that me acting weird?"

Alexis scratched her chin; there was something her daughter was keeping from her.

- "I don't know, but I know you, Sam, you're hiding something."

Sam shrugged and walked toward her room.

- "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, you should probably take a shower and clean the wax out of your—"

Alexis put her hands on her waste.

- "Sam!"

Sam put her hands up innocently.

- "Your ears, Mom!"

Alexis shook her head and pointed at her daughter.

- "I don't know what I'm going to do with you! But, I WILL find out exactly what you're up to!"

Sam winked at her mother.

- "Okay! Just go take a shower and handle your sticky situation!"

Alexis laughed and walked the opposite direction towards her bedroom.


	10. Baseball and Magical Carpet Rides

Please review, and thanks for reading.

Partially edited.

**Chapter Ten**

**Baseball and Magical Carpet Rides**

Alexis came out of the bathroom to find Sam rummaging through her fairly large walk-in closet.

- "Sam, what are you doing in my closet?"

Sam stopped searching for an outfit.

- "Clearly you're not going to dinner in your towel, Mom."

Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter before searching through her drawers for her underwear. She grabbed what she needed and walked back into her room.

- "I think I'm more than capable of finding my clothes without any help honey; I've been doing it for years!"

Sam continued her search until she found something that might work.

- "Well, clearly it's worked well for you; I mean, look at you, married with three beautiful daughters!"

- "Thanks honey."

Sam poked her head out of the closet.

- "Mom, I'm serious! You need to loosen up a bit! There are like only suits in here!"

Alexis blushed; she was partially dressed when Sam stuck her head out.

- "Do you mind?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Mom, relax."

Alexis' face burned. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself before stepping into the closet with her daughter. Sam looked at her.

- "You know, you're too self-conscious about your body."

Alexis scoffed.

- "I am NOT."

Sam stared at her mother.

- "Seriously? You've got to be joking. You just turned all shades of red—"

- "I wasn't dressed!"

- "SO? I'm a woman, and not to mention your daughter. You've got nothing I haven't seen before."

Alexis had always admired Sam's carefree attitude in regard to her body. While she certainly did not care for the way her daughter had dressed in the past, over the years, Sam's clothing choices had become less revealing but still imbued a subtle sexuality to them.

- "I'm not as young as I used to be—"

Sam could not believe her ears.

- "Mom, you're 45 and you look great! You're not the toothless old woman you were ranting about yesterday! It's because you're overly self-conscious that you let yourself get so embarrassed with Mac—"

- "No, no, honey; THAT was different!"

Sam pursed her lips.

- "How so?"

- "Well, for starters, I woke up naked with him, and I didn't know what the hell happened the night before. And then when he saw me, he acted like I threw acid in his eyes! He was clearly disgusted."

Sam nodded her head.

- "Okay, fine, you have a point there, but I still think you need to loosen up and embrace your sexuality."

Alexis frowned.

- "Hey! I embrace my sexuality!"

- "Really? Because I'm not talking about—"

Alexis smacked her daughter's arm.

- "You know way more about me than I like!"

Sam laughed.

- "Mom, we're close and you're a talker! And even if you didn't say anything to me, those long droughts you have, are a clear indication. I mean, let's talk about a high risk of brush fires! There's obviously a reason for your cranky mood one hour, and then your sunny demeanor the next—"

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

- "Are you done? Because let me tell you, Samantha, if I've got the Gobi desert, as you claim, Noah is definitely floating around with his arc around you—"

Sam grinned largely; Alexis put her hand up.

- "I don't care about the size of the arc."

- "FINE! But I think you should accept the fact that you're a sexy woman."

Alexis tightened her towel around her; she began to look through her clothes.

- "Honey, I do! I dress in skirts and dresses a lot."

Sam twirled her fingers in the air.

- "Well whooptidoo, Mom! Look, I'm not saying that you should dress with your cleavage hanging out, but you know, embrace yourself! On your days off, stop walking around in those designer power suits! Let's get you into designer jeans and really nice tops that are still in your style but more… sensual!"

Alexis looked almost hurt.

- "You don't like the way I dress?"

Sam sighed.

- "Mom, I think you look great all of the time, but what you don't have to always be so formal! I mean, if you have to be, at least add a flair of something to it!"

Alexis smiled slightly.

- "I guess I can't help myself! I mean, as much as I try to hide from it, I suppose it's the Cassidine in me?"

Sam made a face at her mother.

Alexis understood what her daughter was telling her.

- "I need to loosen up."

Sam nodded her head.

- "You need to loosen up. And I think pole dancing will help you with that—"

She shook her head at her daughter.

- "I'm not taking pole dancing lessons, Sam."

Sam crossed her arms in front of her chest.

- "Why NOT?"

- "Because it's not me."

- "That's the point! Step outside of the box! You'll be surprised how loose you get! It's a workout! And let me tell you, it helps with flexibility."

Alexis made a face.

- "Sam—"

- "Mom, come on! Baseball hasn't been in season for you in quite some time! It's time to open up the batting cage!"

Alexis mouth fell open.

- "Sam, I really don't want to have this conversation with you right now—"

She smiled at her mother.

- "Will you at least promise me that you'll think about it?"

Alexis put her two fingers up in scout fashion.

- "I promise I'll think about it."

- "That's all I ask."

Sam picked out a black pencil skirt, a white collared top, and red pumps.

- "Here you go. I'm actually shocked you own red pumps."

She frowned at her daughter.

- "Why?"

- "I don't know; I've never seen them before."

Alexis looked at her Nina Larente pumps; Kate had given them to her.

- "I never wore them before."

It was Sam's turn to frown.

- "Why not?"

Alexis shrugged.

- "I don't know! I guess I never thought of anything to wear with them."

Sam shook her head and grabbed a red clutch to go with the shoes.

- "Mom, you have so many things in here that you could add to your wardrobe to step outside of the box."

- "Well, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be stepping too much outside of the box."

Sam smiled.

- "Fine, like maybe we can get you peaking out instead."

Alexis took the clothes from her daughter and put them on her bed; she liked the way they looked already. She turned back to look at Sam who was now searching through her jewelry box looking for accessories. She took in her daughter's style. Several years prior, Sam wore short skirts, and revealing tops, which cheapened her good looks; now as she stared at her beautiful daughter dressed in a pair of jeans, heels, and a nice covering top which revealed a hint of her shoulder, Alexis could not help to think that perhaps she had had some influence on her daughter's improved style.

Sam pulled out a pair of chandelier earrings with accents of black and red, along with a simple matching necklace and bracelet.

- "Here you go."

Alexis smiled at the completed ensemble her daughter had chosen for her.

- "This looks great honey, thank you."

Sam smiled back her mother.

- "You're welcome!"

- "Now, go get yourself together for dinner."

Sam began walking out of the room before she stopped in her spot.

- "I think right here would be the PERFECT spot for a pole!"

Alexis pointed to the door.

- "GO GET DRESSED SAM!"

* * *

Robin and Mac returned to the house to find Maxie already there waiting.

- "That was quick, Maxie! You found something for Uncle Mac, already?"

Maxie smiled coyly.

- "You bet I did! Daddy, before I send you to your room, might I say your hair looks ten times better than it did before!"

Mac sighed at his daughter's back-handed compliment.

- "Gee thanks."

Maxis nodded her head.

- "No problem! And while I was at it, I picked out something cute for Robin to wear, too."

Robin suspiciously eyed her cousin.

- "Thank you."

- "No problem!"

Mac went up the stairs to quickly shower and change into the attire chosen for him. He was not sure what the big deal about dinner was, but doing as his daughter asked sometimes was easier than fighting her on something she had her mind set on.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Robin grabbed Maxie by the arm.

- "Weren't you the one who, less than an hour ago, complained about having to buy Uncle Mac's clothes?"

- "Yea, so?"

- "So, why the hell did you buy me anything?"

Maxie waved her hand nonchalantly.

- "Oh, I memorized Mac's bank account number years ago! Don't worry, I bought something for me too!"

Robin shook her head at her cousin.

- "I don't want this, you can take it back, thief. I'm already dressed for dinner."

Maxie scoffed.

- "You are so not ready for dinner! What about the paparazzi?"

Robin put both hands on her cousin's shoulders. She looked her right in the eyes.

- "Maxie, this is Port Charles. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you're being delusional. There are no paparazzi here, and even if there were, they wouldn't be running to take pictures of you."

Maxie moved Robin's hands from her shoulders.

- "Dream killer."

Maxie went upstairs to get ready for dinner.

Approximately twenty-five minutes later, Mac came down in a beautiful grey suit, matched with a light purple shirt, and striped purple tie.

- "Well, I must say that your cousin has great taste; this suit is really nice."

Robin smiled at how handsome her uncle looked. She nodded her head and mumbled under her breath,

- "I would hope so; it was on your dime."

* * *

Sam and Alexis arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before eight; unfortunately, it was a bit packed.

- "You have reservations, right honey?"

Sam looked around anxiously; she had not realized that her mother was talking to her.

- "Sam?"

She continued to watch the crowd to see if Maxie had arrived yet; she was completely oblivious to the fact that her mother had said anything to her. Alexis, who knew that her daughter was up to something, waved her hand in front of her face.

- "Okay, what are you up to?"

- "Huh? I'm not up to anything."

Alexis crossed her arms.

- "You're looking for someone."

Sam scoffed.

- "I am not—"

The hostess returned to the podium to seat them.

- "Good evening, do you have a reservation?"

Sam smiled at her mother.

- "Yes, under McCall."

The hostess nodded her head.

- "Right this way! The Jones reservation has not yet arrived."

Sam reddened as Alexis grabbed her arm.

- "What did she mean by the Jones reservation?"

- "I have no idea, Mom. I think she might be confusing our reservation with someone else's."

Alexis was not convinced, but continued to walk to the table. When the hostess seated them and left, Alexis leaned forward and hissed at her daughter.

- "This had better not be a set-up for Mac and me!"

Sam looked at the menu, avoiding her mother's glare. Alexis, growing frustrated with her daughter's avoidance, smacked her hand on the table at Sam's place. She looked around to ensure that no one around them was watching.

- "You listen to me, Samantha McCall—"

Sam closed her menu and unwillingly looked at her mother.

- "Mom—"

Alexis accusatorily pointed her finger at her daughter.

- "Is that why you forced me to get… a wax?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

- "Look, I figured that it wouldn't hurt if you were fresh and prepared if in case we, you know, found a man to ride your magical carpet."

Alexis under normal circumstances would have probably laughed, but considering the fact that she was in the midst of an ambush, she was not pleased.

- "This is not the time for your sick jokes, Samantha. Besides, thanks to Helga, it's more like my magical fiberless carpet!"

Sam laughed aloud.

- "That was a good one, Mom!"

- "This isn't funny! You already know how annoyed I am with Mac—"

- "PLEASE, Mom! You and Mac like each other! My goodness, when he came by the other day, if I hadn't been in the living room with you two, it would have probably been a wild kingdom in there!"

Alexis glared at her daughter.

- "I cannot believe you did this—"

As she stood up to leave, Maxie, Robin, and a very shocked Mac, approached; it appeared that their table was right beside Sam and Alexis'.

Maxie smiled amusingly at Alexis, disregarding Sam's partially pained and anxious face.

- "Oh, Alexis, you didn't have to stand up for us! But, I must say that people are right when they say that, although crazy, the Cassidines have impeccable manners!"

Alexis' eyes shot daggers at the girl, while Robin glanced apologetically at the woman. Mac, on the other hand, while agitated by the real reason behind this family dinner, was in awe of Alexis. He was highly turned on by her look. He loved the sight of her long legs, and the form fitting skirt she wore. The shirt she wore was also quite fitting, and tastefully revealing. While he knew nothing about jewelry, he certainly loved the classiness of the chosen accessories. He was so enamored by the obviously incensed woman that a thump heard from his side of the table, would not have been shocking.

- "Hi, Lex."

He tripped a bit as he went to sit beside her.

Alexis smiled politely at her friend, while giving her daughter, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat with her friend beside her, a swift kick underneath the table.

- "Hi Mac. It looks like our daughters were co-conspirators."

Sam winced in pain, while Maxie look innocently smiled.

- "I have no idea what you're talking about, Alexis! It just so happens that this is a brand new—"

Alexis finished the girl's sentence for her.

- "Restaurant that you have been dying to try?"

Maxie nodded.

- "As a matter of fact, that's right."

Robin shook her head.

- "I'm really sorry about this Uncle Mac and Alexis, I was coerced into this—"

Mac put his hand up understandingly.

- "I knew something was up and I had a feeling that whatever it was, you were not willingly involved. Maxie, on the other hand, has her whole hand in this mess—"

Sam rubbed her bruised leg while she interjected.

- "I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call this a mess… Mom, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a nasty bruise on my leg!"

Alexis continued to glare at her daughter.

- "You're lucky that's the only place you have a bruise right now, Samantha."

Sam's eyes widened.

- "Mom, seriously, I'm a bit too old—"

Alexis hissed at her daughter.

- "Consider it a retroactive payment for the years you weren't with me."

Maxie waved her hands.

- "Okay, I don't think it makes much sense for us all to sit here and argue back and forth and try to place the blame on any innocent party—"

Sam interrupted her friend.

- "Maxie, it's over."

The girl pouted.

- "Oh well! We're here anyway, and—"

Her cell phone began to buzz.

- "Oh dear, looks like Fusion is calling!"

Mac reached across the table and grabbed the phone from his daughter's hand; he picked it up.

- "Lulu, do not call Maxie again for the rest of the night. Whatever supposed problem is going on at Fusion at this time of night, I'm sure that you're more than capable of taking care of it yourself. Maxie is a bit indisposed at the moment with other problems she's managed to manufacture for herself."

He hung up the phone, and put it into his pocket. Maxie frowned at her father.

- "I object to that!"

Alexis shook her head.

- "Overruled."

Robin's pager went off.

- "Um, well, as much as I would like to be involved in this whole shindig, I actually DO have to go."

She leaned over and gave her uncle a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear.

- "Again, I'm really sorry about this Uncle Mac. Make the best of this, okay? I know that you like her."

Mac reddened.

- "Bye honey."

Robin waved to everyone and left for home; she had had Patrick page her.

Alexis raised her eyebrow at her daughter.

- "Don't think that you're leaving either."

She held her hand out. Sam sighed and handed her mother her car keys without an argument.

- "And—"

She frowned.

- "And what?"

- "Sam."

- "Mom."

- "Samantha."

Sam reached in her other pocket and pulled out the spare key. Alexis put them both in her purse. She then stuck her hand out again. Sam was now truly confused.

- "Mom, I gave you both sets of keys."

- "I want your cell too."

- "Whoa, why?"

Alexis kept her hand out.

- "Samantha, your phone."

Maxie started laughing at her friend causing Mac to snap her back to reality.

- "I really don't know why you're laughing, Maxie; I've got your cell phone, and you drove here with me."

Maxie immediately stopped laughing as she realized the truth in the matter; she was stuck. Sam shook her head and handed her phone over to her mother.

- "Looks like a match made in heaven."

Maxie rolled her eyes.

- "Tell me about it."

Alexis and Mac smiled at each other while their daughters sat agitated that their plan had backfired.

A man who had been watching the scene unfold stood up and approached the table.

- "Alexandra?"

Alexis who had taken a sip from her drink, nearly choked at the sight of him.


	11. Éclairs and Clamshells

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Eleven**

**Éclairs and Clams**

- "Alexandra, is that you?"

Alexis paled.

- "Mathieu?"

Sam handed her mother a glass of water.

- "Mom, you look like you've just seen a ghost! Here, drink this."

Alexis stared at the man and took a sip of the water. Unfortunately, she began to choke; the water went down wrong. The man stepped aside as Sam quickly went to her mother's side, while Mac smacked her on the back.

- "Mom, relax—"

- "Yea, Lex, breathe."

As she regained her composure, Alexis looked up at the man as though she had seen a ghost.

- "You can't be here."

He smiled at her and nodded. He spoke to her in French.

- "Well, here I am. It's been a long time, Alexandra. And seeing as this young woman has called you 'Mom,' I take it that she's your daughter."

She could not believe that the man, whom she had been told was dead, was standing before her. He was just as handsome as he had been when she first met him.

- "Oh God—"

She passed out. Sam began to pat her mother's face before angrily looking at the interloper.

- "What the hell did you say to her?"

Mac jumped in as well.

- "If I find out that you threatened her, your baguette will be softer than a day old croissant!"

The man put up his hand.

- "Please, I would never threaten my Alexandra."

Sam turned to respond to the man.

- "Excuse me? YOUR Alexandra? My mother looked a bit shocked to see you! From the way I saw it, she thought she saw some kind of ghost!"

Maxie looked from Mac, to Sam, and then to the mystery man Alexis referred to as Mathieu.

- "Um, I'm sure that Mac, you'd like to do harmful things to this guy's oui oui, and Sam, you're curious about whether or not Alexis buttered his baguette—"

Sam put her hand up.

- "Whoa, MAXIE! Can you please not talk about my mother buttering anyone's baguette!"

Mac interrupted.

- "Okay, I don't care about this guy, can we just take care of Lex?"

Maxie leaned over and looked at the fainted woman.

- "Alexis—"

She grabbed her glass of ice water and threw it into Alexis' face; Mac and Sam looked at her as though she were insane.

- "What the hell is wrong with you Maxie?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

- "She's passed out! I figured, that nothing would get her out of that quicker than some ice water."

Sam rolled her eyes and took the table napkin to wipe her mother's face.

- "Well obviously it didn't work you idiot! … Mom, come on, wake up."

- "Hey! Um, RUDE! I'm only trying to help! I'd like to know, just as much as you two, if Alexis had a taste of his French cheese-balls."

Mac pointed his finger at Maxie.

- "Go ask the concierge for something to wake her up!"

Mathieu reached into his pocket.

- "May I?"

Sam was mistrustful of this character whom she had never met, and her mother clearly was in shock to see.

- "May you what?"

Mac glared at the man.

- "I think we've got it. I'm sure whatever's in your pocket isn't going to be of much use to Alexis right now."

Mathieu held out a vial of smelling salts and smirked at the jealous man possessively guarding Alexis. Sam noticed the vial.

- "You carry smelling salts?"

- "I'm a doctor."

Sam eyed him suspiciously before moving aside to allow him to attempt to wake Alexis. He leaned forward and placed the vial under her nose; she immediately began to come to. Once she got her bearings, she jolted up from her seat at the table.

- "SAM!"

Mathieu continued to eye the young woman as he moved aside to allow her to retake her spot beside her mother.

- "Mom, I'm right here."

Alexis looked from Sam to the mystery man.

- "Um, we need to go home."

- "Mom—"

Mathieu stepped forward.

- "Please Alexandra, we should talk—"

She put her hand up.

- "You had your chance. Now, I need to go—"

- "But—"

She was getting annoyed with him.

- "No. As far as I'm concerned you're dead right now. Give me three days, and then you can play Lazarus, although you're a little late for Halloween."

He was relentless.

- "There's so much to explain—"

- "Mathieu, I mean it! I can't deal with you right now."

She grabbed her daughter by the hand.

- "Samantha, NOW."

Sam frowned, but noticed the look of high anxiety in her mother's eyes.

- "Okay, fine."

Mac was disappointed that the evening was ending abruptly. As annoyed as he had been with his daughter for interfering, he could not help but feel grateful to her because he actually did like Alexis.

- "Lex, I'll walk you two to your car."

Keeping her eyes directly on Mathieu, who, in turn, returned her gaze. Alexis nodded.

- "It would be great if you could walk us to our car, Mac. Thank you."

Mathieu gazed from Mac to Alexis, and back to Mac.

- "Is he your—"

Alexis glared at him and responded back to the man in French.

- "That's really of no concern to you."

She reached into her purse and pulled out Sam's keys.

- "Honey, I think you should probably drive."

Sam stared at the man for some time; there was something strangely familiar about him. Alexis noticed her daughter's fixation so she smacked her arm.

- "Sam, we need to go."

Sam was taken out of her trance. She took her car keys back.

- "Um, okay."

As she turned to leave, Mathieu grabbed her hand.

- "She's ours isn't she?"

She pulled her hand back.

- "She's MINE, not much yours."

- "Alexandra—"

She glowered at him.

- "I need to go talk to my daughter."

Alexis nodded her head to Mac as she pushed her daughter away from the man.

Mac patted him on the back.

- "Listen to me limp biscuit, if you bother her again, I'll see to it that you're thrown into jail where you'll be churning someone else's butter for a long time."

As Mac walked away, Mathieu glared at him.

- "Well, may the best man win."

* * *

As Mac watched Alexis and Sam drive away, his heart sank; he would have liked a pleasant dinner with his long time friend. He had been harboring feelings for her for quite some time, and this would have been a perfect time to began acting on them; he was sure that somewhere in her heart, Alexis felt the same way about him.

Maxie noticed his upset; she put her arm around him.

- "Don't worry Daddy; if this Mathieu guy is anything like you, his toaster might have been pressed down so long, the toast won't pop up anymore."

He put his arms around his daughter's shoulders and led her to his car; as insulting as her comment might have appeared to those who did not know her, Mac knew it came from love.

- "Yea, well, unfortunately, I have a feeling that at some point, his toast mixed with her jelly and created a sandwich."

She frowned at him.

- "Whoa whoa whoa… Are you saying—"

He nodded his head.

- "I have a feeling that this Mathieu guy, is Sam's father."

Maxie thought about the man again; he was tall and handsome.

- "Well, he is pretty sexy! I can see why Alexis would have fallen for him. Oh my goodness, the dreamy eyes, the light scruff on his face. I like scruff; it comes to wonderful uses! Oh and that thick French accent… I'm sure that's not the only thick—"

- "MAXIE!"

She seemed to have forgotten whom she had been talking to, and went into a sexual fantasy with a tall, strong, and sexy Frenchman; she blushed.

- "Um, sorry! Well, whatever, Daddy! I'm a married woman—"

- "You're not married per se—"

She rolled her eyes.

- "Well, I'm not the Virgin Mary, either! I left that island a LONG time ago—"

He let go of her and moved to open the passenger door for her.

- "Maxie, do you want me to have a brain aneurysm? Because I will if you keep talking to me about this."

She sat in the car and waited for her father to get in.

- "I'm SORRY! I guess you can call that payback for your phone call yesterday morning!"

It was his turn to blush.

- "I guess I'm sorry too."

She turned to him smiling.

- "SO! What do you suggest we do to make the French toast?"

* * *

The drive back from the restaurant to the lake house was a short, but silent ride. When Sam pulled into the driveway, she looked at her mother.

- "Mom."

Alexis stared out of the window, absent-mindedly.

- "Hmm?"

- "Mom, look at me."

When Alexis looked at her daughter, there were tears in her eyes; it broke Sam's heart to see her mother crying.

- "What's going on? Why are you upset?"

Alexis knew she needed to speak to her daughter; if she didn't Mathieu would certainly find a way.

- "Um, okay. I think we need to go someplace else right now. I don't want your sisters to be home and interrupt what I need to tell you."

Sam nodded her head and put the car in reverse; unfortunately, she failed to notice the car pulling into her mother's driveway at the same time.

- "Sh!t! What the hell?"

She and Alexis quickly jumped out of the car to check on other car. Alexis could not believe her eyes. She began screaming at the driver in French.

- "Mathieu! What the hell are you doing here!"

He stepped out of his car; it was not badly damaged.

- "I told you that I wanted to talk to you—"

She glared angrily at him.

- "And I told YOU that I needed to talk to my daughter. Now get off of my property."

Alexis turned to her daughter.

- "Honey, sorry about all the French, this idiot won't get a clue. Will you call the cops please so we can get a police report of the accident, and file a claim of trespass."

Sam frowned at her mother.

- "Okay, what the hell is going on, Mom?"

Alexis took Sam by the shoulders and gently pushed her toward the house.

- "Honey, just do what I asked."

- "Fine."

Sam went inside to make the call, leaving Alexis to argue with Mathieu.

- "She should know that I'm her father!"

She scoffed at the man.

- "Yea, I was planning on telling her that when you decided to plow into her car!"

He stared at her as she screamed and yelled at him; she was just as beautiful as the day they met.

_**Flashback.**_

_Both his parents and her father, whom she had known to be her cousin at the time, shipped them off to boarding school in the states; she at the all girls school, and he at the all boys school in Chatham, Maine. _

_One day at a co-sponsored affair, 15 year old Alexis, who, having been virtually isolated and sheltered as a child, was not one for social mingling, went outside onto the grounds for air; she was overwhelmed by the number of people in the auditorium. Rushing quickly out of the door, she bumped into 17 year old Mathieu._

_- "I'm sorry."_

_He shook his head._

_- "Non, I'm sorry. This party is pretty lame; I was going to get my jacket and leave, too."_

_His accent was incredibly thick. Alexis smiled and spoke to him in French._

_- "I'm not really a social person, I guess. So even if there was a—"_

_He cut her off._

_- "I love a girl that can speak French. You are beautiful. Did you know that?"_

_She blushed. That had been the first time anyone had ever told her that she was beautiful; in fact, it was the first time that she had been complimented… ever._

_- "Thank you."_

_He brushed a piece of her away from her face._

_- "My name is Mathieu LeGros."_

_It would be a few weeks before Alexis realized what an understatement his name was. _

_- "Alexandra Davidovitch, but my family, I guess you can call them that, call me Alexis."_

_He passed his hand along her cheek. _

_- "I think I'll call you Alexandra; Alexis doesn't do your beauty justice."_

_She reddened again; she was nervous about this smooth talking boy, nearly man, who was proving to be quite touchy and intrusive to her personal space._

_- "Um, I have to go."_

_She moved to leave, when he pulled her back to him. He pulled out a pen, and wrote his number on her hand._

_- "I want to see you again."_

_He gave her a kiss on either cheek and let her go._

_**End of Flashback.**_

- "I'm sorry, Alexandra—"

She cut her eyes at him.

- "It's Alexis."

He attempted to brush the hair out of her eyes, as he had done all of those years ago, but she grabbed him by the wrist.

- "I'm not some naïve kid, Mathieu—"

Sam walked out of the house and saw this last move.

- "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

As Alexis was turning to answer her daughte, Mac drove up to the house with Maxie still in tow.

- "What happened? Didn't we leave you at the restaurant? Are you following her now?"

Mathieu stared at Alexis, completely ignoring Mac.

- "I love you, Alex—"

Alexis disregarded his profession of love to look at Mac.

- "What are you doing here?"

- "I got a call that there had been an accident."

She looked from Mathieu to Sam.

- "Um, I wouldn't exactly call it an accident, but there was certainly a big bang… of sorts. It was pretty bad actually… probably the worst I have EVER had."

Maxie mumbled to herself.

- "That's more information than I cared to know."

Sam grabbed her mother's arm. She was beginning to get the feeling that her mother was no longer talking about the accident.

- "Mom, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Alexis smiled at her daughter. Despite everything that had happened between she and Mathieu, she did not regret having her daughter in her life; she only wished that she had been able to keep and raise her.

- "Yes, honey. I'm fine."

- "You're acting a bit strange. Was he your—"

Alexis bit her lip.

- "Um, that's something we need to talk about later—"

Sam's eyes widened as she looked from her mother to Mathieu.

- "Mom?"

Alexis took her daughter's face in her hands, and looked her directly in the eyes.

- "Honey, later. I'll explain everything to you later."

She wrapped her arms around Sam, and glared at Mathieu. Mac walked up to her.

- "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Alexis nodded her head and stepped to the side with Mac.

- "What's going on Mac?"

- "Alexis, he's Sam's father isn't he?"

Alexis turned to look at Mathieu who stared in her direction; Sam stared at the man, as Maxie tried to distract her best friend.

- "Yes."

- "Well, are you going to tell her?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

- "Mac, what the hell do you think? Of course I was going to tell her… except Mathieu [ahem] rear-ended—"

He put his hand up.

- "Okay, I get it. What do you want to do?"

She looked back at the man again.

- "Well, I won't tell you exactly what I WANT to do, however, since she's just figured it out, what I'm GOING to do is tell my daughter that her father is the reason why I haven't been able to touch an éclairs, without roughly squeezing the cream out of it, in nearly thirty years."

Mac wanted to put his arm around her, but he feared that despite her current animosity toward the Frenchman, her clamshell would only open for him.

- "Éclairs are overrated anyway; a bit too sweet, if you know what I mean."

He winked at Alexis. She smacked him in the stomach and smiled.

- "You're a great guy, Mac."

He smiled back at her, and gazed into her eyes. He reached and brushed the stray hair that was in her face.

- "Well, outside of the floppy drive—"

Alexis frowned at him; Mac began to laugh.

- "Did you think I was going to let you continue to make fun of me for that little mishap?"

She shook her head and began to walk back toward her daughter and the man who helped produce her. She stopped and looked back at him.

- "You're too much of a man to allow that. I'm sure your hard drive works… sometimes."


	12. Mayonnaise v Tartar Sauce

Many thanks to you readers, and especially to the reviewers; being exceptionally busy right now, and living in the library, I get the chapters written over a period of days during breaks. Your reviews are very inspiring during this highly stressful time. I truly appreciate you taking the time to review/ PM me your thoughts. I'm happy that you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it.

**NOTE**: Because Molly is 10 years old, Sam and Alexis have been forging a mother/daughter relationship for the past 10 years. Therefore, in conformity with NY State's Age of Consent laws, JaSam started when she was 18, until she was about 20; she "dated" Jax and Sonny, the cradle robbers, at 17…

UNEDITED

**Chapter Twelve**

**Mayonnaise v. Tartar Sauce**

Once her mother had all but admitted that Mathieu was her father, Sam stayed in her bedroom at the lake house until she was certain that he had left; she did not want to speak to him until she knew the story of why he had not fought for her. She knew her mother had no choice but to give her up, but she could not have done so without his consent; Sam wanted to hear from her mother first, the woman whom she trusted more than anyone in the world, what happened between her and Mathieu, that led to her being given up for adoption.

There was knock on her door.

--- "Yea?"

It was Maxie.

--- "What are you still doing here?"

Maxie rolled her eyes.

--- "I'm my father's prisoner; as soon as he got the call that there was some fender bender at your place, he turned the car around. So, right now, he's outside flirting with Alexis, while making your dad—"

Sam's mouth fell.

--- "How did you know?"

--- "Mac had an idea … Although I guess I wasn't supposed to say anything to you. Um, sorry? I mean wow, your dad is a Frenchmen—"

--- "It's fine. My mother basically admitted that was him—"

Maxie absentmindedly gazed into space as Sam spoke.

--- "Sam, your dad is SEXY! Oh my goodness, that thick French accent, those eyes, that dark hair… Goodness, if only his cork hadn't plugged into your Mom's wine bottle—"

Sam threw a pillow at her friend.

--- "Damn it, Maxie! Will you STOP!"

--- "I'm SORRY, okay? It just has me thinking that Mac needs to step his game up. I might have to give him a makeover or something… Like we got him to get a hair cut, but—"

Sam grabbed her jacket and headed toward the door. Maxie followed right behind her.

--- "Hey, where are you going?!"

--- "I need to go speak to Jason."

--- 'Well, take me with you! I need to see Spinelli!"

Sam walked outside toward her car when Alexis stopped her.

--- "Sam?"

--- "Mom, not right now—please?"

Alexis knew that her daughter was upset over the realization that her father was standing a few feet from her, and was, at that point, staring at the young woman.

--- "Honey, you can't take your car until the police report is written."

Sam threw her hands up.

--- "Mom, seriously! How long does it take—"

Alexis turned Sam around and walked her back into the house so she could speak with her without Mac and Mathieu staring in their direction.

--- "Look, we'll talk about everything later, okay?"

--- "Sure, we'll talk about how you and that Mathieu guy played leap frog until he leapt a bit to high, and feel on top of you—"

Alexis crossed her arms and shook her head.

--- "Honey—"

Sam rubbed her face and gave her mother and exasperated look.

--- "Mom, I can't stay here right now."

Alexis grabbed her car keys from the key hook.

--- "Take my car."

Sam sighed.

--- "Why? I don't even see the point of a police report; don't you know this guy?"

Alexis decided to ignore her daughter's question.

--- "You know me, I'm meticulous; I want everything to be properly done. And the reason I want you to take my car is because I know that way you'll have to come back here to bring it back."

Sam rolled her eyes and took the keys from her mother.

--- "Fine. Thanks."

--- "You're welcome, honey."

Alexis gave Sam a kiss on the top of the head, and walked out toward her car with her.

* * *

While Alexis was inside talking to Sam, Mac stared at Mathieu; he just did not like the man. Mac found him to be a smug, arrogant, jerk.

--- "Let me tell you something, French Fry—"

Mathieu was tired of Mac calling him names.

--- "Look, Mac, that's your name, right? Mac?"

Mac nodded his head, so Mathieu continued.

--- "Does it make you feel like a big man calling me names? Hmm? Like that Big Mac Sandwich you Americans like? Let me tell you something, Alexandra doesn't like small low quality pieces of meat hidden behind messy sauce and old lettuce—"

Mac raised his eyebrow to the man.

--- "I beg to differ—"

Mathieu smirked at the man.

--- "Well, I suggest you begin begging right now, because the Alexandra I know, the one born with the blood of royalty wouldn't—"

Maxie jumped into the conversation; she was not about to let this man attempt to talk down to her father.

--- "Look here MATHIEU! The way it looked to ALL of us who actually know Alexis, she didn't even know that you existed! PLUS, I might not understand a word of French, but I could tell that it didn't look like she was interested in seeing your turtle come out of its shell. Before you decided to make your grand entrance, she was enjoying her Bic Mac lovin'! The messy sauce was her FAVORITE part, you know! She licks her lips—"

Mac grabbed his daughter's hand to stop her from speaking.

--- "Maxie—"

--- "No Daddy, he needs to know that his Grey Poupon has no competition with your mayo—"

--- "Dressing."

--- "What?"

Mac sighed.

--- "Big Mac's have dressing, not mayo—"

Maxie rolled her eyes at her father.

--- "Daddy! I don't think that matters! The point is that your mayo is more appealing to Alexis than this guy's nasty tartar sauce!"

Mathieu was stunned by the girl's candor; he would never disrespect a woman by responding negatively.

--- "I apologize for offending you, Mademoiselle—"

Maxie held her hand out, showing him her finger.

--- "MADAME… Then again, calling me a Madam doesn't work that well in this country; it has a whole new meaning here. Although, that does give me an idea for me and Spin; Oh! And I think I have a really cute outfit from last Halloween! Oh my goodness, that would be totally—"

Mac needed to put a muzzle on his daughter.

--- "Maxie!"

She smiled innocently at him, while Mathieu frowned; he spoke fluent English, but the rapid pace at which Maxie commanded the language was enough to make an Anglophone's head spin.

--- "Sorry—"

He cleared his throat.

--- "Er, can you tell Alexandra—"

He stopped speaking when he noticed Alexis and Sam stepping out of the house. He found them to be the most beautiful sight, his former loved and the daughter he never knew; he stared as he watched Alexis wrap her arm around their daughter as she led her to her car.

Alexis saw that Mathieu was staring, but tried to take Sam's mind off of him for the time being.

--- "Honey, remember, you promised me you'd come back."

Sam nodded her head as she also noticed Mathieu staring in their direction.

--- "Mom, I told you I would."

Alexis turned her head and noticed that not only was her childhood lover staring at "their" daughter, but Mac and Maxie were as well; their ogling increased the young woman's discomfort. Alexis stepped around Sam, turning her to face her.

--- "Honey, ignore them. Just go to Jason's—"

Sam laughed.

--- "I never thought I'd live to see the day that you'd be sending me to Jason's."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea well, take this as a one shot deal—"

Sam smirked, much like her father did; Alexis never realized or noticed, until that moment, how similar her daughter looked to Mathieu. Outside of dark Cassidine eyes, and her lips, and the shape of her face, Sam resembled her father; in essence, she was a beautiful mixture of her two parents.

--- "And I'm sure that's what he told you, just before he shot the white ball into your hole—"

She looked over at Mathieu who was still staring in their direction. She took her daughter's face into her hands, and stared her in the eyes.

--- "Honey, regardless of what happened between Mathieu and me, his "scratch" might have been a shock, but I won the game, didn't I?"

She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Now, go to that idiot boyfriend of yours—"

Sam opened the car door and stepped in.

--- "Mom!"

Alexis winked at her girl.

--- "I love you, honey."

--- "I love you, too, Mom."

Alexis closed the door, and watched as her daughter slowly back out of the driveway, stopping to allow Maxie to jump into the car.

Alexis stormed toward the two men who stood staring in her direction.

--- "You two idiots just made MY daughter quite uncomfortable!"

She made sure to stress the "my" for Mathieu's benefit.

--- "Alexandra, please honey—"

Mathieu tried to speak softly and sweetly to her in French, but Alexis shut him down.

--- "Okay, you know what, how about you speak English! Sam's not here anymore, and Mac already knows that you're an asshole—"

Mac nodded his head.

--- "Exactly! I just made him well aware of that."

She shook her head.

--- "You're no better Mac! This doesn't concern you! Why are you even still here? Where the hell are your cops to write this stupid police report!"

He was taken aback by her agitation with him.

--- "Lex, why are you mad at me? I'm just trying to protect you—"

Mathieu smirked once again.

--- "Yes, big bad policeman—"

--- "COMMISSIONER—"

--- "Does your gun size change with promotion?"

Mac stepped in Mathieu's face.

--- "I'm sure it's bigger than your thin stethoscope, DOCTOR."

Alexis was fed up with the men's arguing.

--- "Okay, I want you both off of my property! Forget the damn police report. Mathieu, seeing as you know where I live, send me a bill for the damages to the car."

The men turned to look at her.

--- "Alexandra!"

--- "Lex!"

She shook her head; she had a lot to think about, and dealing with the two men bicker like women agitated her.

--- "Nope, go!"

A neighborhood cat scampered past them.

--- "See, there you go! Now that kitty, you two have a fair shot at petting. Goodbye boys."

Alexis turned and walked toward the house.

* * *

After Sam and Maxie arrived at the penthouse, Maxie grabbed Spinelli and took him up to the regrettably pink room, leaving Sam to talk to Jason. He noticed her upset; he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

--- "What's wrong?"

She felt tears threaten to come to her eyes, but she blinked them away.

--- "Well, you know how you helped me find my mother?"

--- "Yea—"

She walked to the fireplace and looked at the pictures sitting on the mantle.

--- "Tonight, I met my father."

--- "How did that happen? I thought you and Maxie were trying to set Mac and Alexis up?"

Sam brushed a tear that managed to roll down her face.

--- "Yea, that was the plan. Alexis and I had a great day together; we went to the spa, got mani/pedis, I made her get a brazilian—"

--- "Sam, I did not need all of that information about your mother."

She rolled her eyes and sat on the couch.

--- "Jason, come on!"

He sat beside her, bringing her to him. He smiled at her.

--- "Did you get one too?"

She hit him on the chest and smiled.

--- "I just told you that I met my father and you're worried about whether or not I got a wax!"

He kissed her again.

--- "I know you did, but I just wanted to see you smile."

She leaned her head onto his chest.

--- "Thank you for that. Anyway, he just came up to our table and started speaking to my mother in French. She passed out, Maxie tossed iced water on her, he used smelling salts—"

--- "He had smelling salts?"

She smiled.

--- "Yea, apparently, my father is a doctor, and he just carries them on him because I guess people pass out when they see him."

Maxie came down the stairs looking quite disheveled.

--- "Well they should! He is sexy! Jason you should see him—"

Spinelli interjected as he followed right behind her.

--- "Maximista, my lovely cherry blossom, you have interrupted our pollination to interfere with the conversation of Stone Cold and Fair Samantha."

She sat on the chair adjacent to the couch.

--- "YES! Sam's father is this sexy French guy with a thick accent—"

Jason put his hand up.

--- "Can you two go… pollinate upstairs please? Let Sam and I have a chance to talk privately?"

Spinelli nodded his head.

--- "Oh course Stone Cold. Maximista, my beautiful tiger lily, will you allow this bee to taste your sweet nectar?"

Maxie smiled at him.

--- "Of course, but only if you promise to sting me afterwards."

Jason made a face.

--- "Seriously? You two need to leave. We don't need to hear this."

Spinelli lifted, with a bit of a struggle, Maxie from the chair and painstakingly carried her up the steps; he had never been known for his physical strength.

Sam pressed her head into Jason's chest and laughed.

--- "Those two are a mess—"

He shook his head.

--- "Those two need to find their own place."

As if on cue, they heard a loud moan, followed by a loud buzzing sound.

The look on Jason's face was one of absolute disgust.

--- "They really have to move."

Sam smiled.

--- "Um, why don't you stop focusing on them, and take me upstairs. I think I'd like to see your bud blossom."

Jason leaned in and kissed her again.

--- "Don't you want to talk about your father?"

She straddled him.

--- "No, you know what, I spent the last ten years getting close to my Mom; I think I'll talk to her first."

He nodded his head as he stuck his hand under her shirt.

--- "I'm glad that I was able to help you find her."

--- "And I'll show you how grateful I am for that."

She stepped off of him, and walked up a couple of steps.

--- "Are you coming?"

He slowly got up from his spot, walked up to her and lifted her the rest of the way up to his room.

--- "Not yet, but give me a couple of hours."

* * *

Mathieu paced his hotel suite thinking about the events of the night. It was by chance that he had even seen Alexis, or Alexandra as he insisted on calling her, at the restaurant; he was in town for a medical conference at General Hospital. As he was sitting and attempting to enjoy what had to be the saddest excuse for Boeuf Bourguignon that he had ever had the displeasure of introducing to his French palate, he saw a vision enter the restaurant. He was astounded that the fates had brought him to that supposedly five star restaurant to once again see his first love.

_**Flashback.**_

_Although it was forbidden for the students at the all-girls school to intermingle with the students at the all-boys school up the rode, Alexis and Mathieu consistently broke the rules and met under a bridge by the pond in the park that separated the schools from each other. While Alexis had not normally been, considering her upbringing in the Cassidine household, a child who broke the rules, there was something about escaping the confines of her dorm to meet with Mathieu that excited her; she had never been "bad" before._

_Mathieu intrigued Alexis. She loved running her fingers through his dark brown silky hair, and gazing into his beautiful tear-shaped green eyes; his eyes were the most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen. Then his straight and thin nose complimented the slight fullness in his cheeks. And then there was that one dimple… on his face… that she was in love with. The more time she spent with him, the more she thought she loved him._

_--- "I think you have the most beautiful smile."_

_He smiled at her remark._

_--- "Well, I think you're wrong."_

_She frowned as she played with the frills on the blanket they were sitting on underneath that bridge by the pond._

_--- "You do?"_

_He lifted her chin so that he might gaze into her eyes._

_--- "I do. I think you do. Your smile lights up the room—"_

_--- "But we're never in a room together, only at this park—"_

_--- "Why don't you ever take a compliment?"_

_She looked down again._

_--- "Because I've never really received one."_

_He leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the lips._

_--- "Well, it seems to me that the sun shining is no comparison to the light that comes from seeing you smile."_

_He pointed to the pond._

_--- "Do you see that?"_

_She tried to get a grasp of what he was pointing toward._

_--- "What?"_

_He pulled her close to him._

_--- "The reflection on the water… it's from your smile, not the sun's rays."_

_**End of Flashback.**_

It bothered him immensely that he did not know his daughter; he needed to make things right with her… his Sam, who looked so much like his Alexandra.

Alexandra, the other with whom he needed to make everything right, remained on his mind; he thought about her once again. He did not know what he could do to stop her from being so angry with him; in fact, he did not even know why she was angry with him in the first place, if anything, he was the one who should be angry with her.

He took a sip of his wine and looked at the fire burning in the suite's fireplace.

* * *

Alexis sat in her living room staring at the fireplace. Mathieu had given her her first compliment, her first kiss, her first baby. He had been her first everything; he was her first heartbreak. She was not sure how, when Sam returned, she was going to speak to her. Alexis, herself, was not sure why Mathieu disappeared after she gave birth to their daughter. She did not want to tell her daughter that she thought her father was a complete jerk because Sam might actually be interested in getting to know the man.

As she reached for her cell phone to call her daughter to ensure that she was coming back, someone knocked on her door. Because the blinds were already pulled, she had to get up to check who it was.

--- "One second!"

After everyone left, Alexis had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, she had her hair up in a pony tail since water had been rudely thrown in her face at dinner, and wore her bicycle wheeled glasses; she was not pleased that someone had come by her place uninvited.

She looked in a mirror before opening the door.

--- "Okay, let's just hope that it isn't someone important… then again, who's really coming by this late? They should expect to see someone dressed down in their own home… and Sam says I need to loosen up! I'm in sweats and a t-shirt! Then again, she bought them for me... this afternoon."

The person knocked once more. Alexis fixed her ponytail and opened the door.

--- "Mac? I thought I kicked you out?"

He nodded his head.

--- "Well, you did, and I left—"

She crossed her arms; she was not pleased that he had decided to bother her when she specifically told him and Mathieu to leave.

--- "And now you're back. What do you want?"

He lifted a big that was in his hands.

--- "I guess I figured that you might want something to eat since we never did actually have dinner."

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about Mathieu and Sam that she had forgotten that she had not eaten in hours; for the first time that evening, her stomach growled.

--- "You're right. I guess you can come in then."

He smiled at her.

--- "Thanks. Nice outfit. I especially love that your pants have 'off the pole' written across the bottom."

Alexis blushed; she was going to kill Sam for purchasing those sweats for her.

--- "This is Sam's doing."

Mac smiled at Sam's satirical humor.

--- "Look Lex, I'm really sorry about everything that happened this evening. I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable."

She nodded her head.

--- "I know you didn't. I'm sorry I kicked you out; I'm not really mad at you, I'm just pissed at Mathieu."

She stepped aside to let him inside the house. She excused herself so that she could get two sets of table settings from the kitchen. While she was in the kitchen, Mac took the food out of the bag.

--- "What did you get us to eat?"

--- "The only place that wasn't packed at this time of night was Kelly's—"

--- "I love Kelly's!"

--- "— so I bought hamburgers and onion rings."

She came out with two plates and glasses.

--- "Onion rings?"

He nodded.

--- "Yea, I figured you had enough French things for the night… or a lifetime."

She chuckled to herself as she sat down.

--- "I guess you're partially right."

Mac handed her her hamburger; it was a thick sirloin burger with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. She smiled gratefully at him.

--- "This looks great. Thank you for thinking about me."

He smiled back.

--- "I always think about you—"

She did not know how to take that statement so she let it pass; considering the big French coq… rooster… that was in the room, she was too preoccupied with Mathieu and Sam to focus her attention on Mac's supposed desire of her.

--- "Um, crazy night, right?"

He blushed slightly at the fact that he made such a bold admission to her, to only have it be ignored.

--- "Yea. How's Sam?"

Alexis put her burger down and looked at the man.

--- "I don't know, she's shocked, confused and angry, I guess? She wasn't ready to talk just yet; she was uncomfortable being here while Mathieu was outside. I just don't know what I can tell her; you know what I mean?"

--- "You're her mother, Lex, she trusts you; so tell her the truth."

She nodded her head.

--- "I have no intention of lying to her, Mac."

--- "So what's the problem?"

She sighed.

--- "The problem is that I don't know why Mathieu showed up! I don't know where he's been! Geez Mac, I thought he was dead!"

He put his own burger down.

--- "Why'd you think that?"

She looked down for a second.

--- "Because that's what I was told. Anyway, I don't want to talk about this anymore; I need to speak with Sam first."

Before he could question her more about that, she began looking into the bag of food.

--- "What are you looking for?"

She stopped searching to look at him.

--- "The tartar sauce. I like to eat my onion rings with it."

Mac put his burger down; he officially lost his appetite.

* * *

**Hey minors whom I'm currently corrupting :o)… For "politically correct" purposes, I'm changing the rating on this story to M. If your list of fics is filtered and you don't have this story on your alerts, be sure to change it to "all stories" so you can see when I've updated. If not, sorry!**


	13. Mechanical Bulls

**NOTE: IN MY DELIRIUM, I FORGOT TO ADD A SECTION IN LAST NIGHT... SO I DELETED THE CHAPTER AND ADDED IT IN. IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ THE CHAPTER, SEE THE THIRD SECTION. NOTHING ELSE HAS BEEN CHANGED.**

Ok, I have spent MANY hours in the library and working on very little sleep. PLEASE take the time to **review** this chapter; let me know whether or not my exhaustion has affected my writing of this chapter. I'm super tired and had the shakes today because I'm totally lacking in the sleep department; per Demon, I'm a vampire. I'm working my tail off right now and still writing an update for you, so please let me know what you think.

I don't know when or how soon the next chapter will be written; I'm exhausted.

UNEDITED and short…

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Mechanical Bulls **

As Alexis was clearing the table after dinner with Mac, Diane stopped by for a visit.

--- "Hey, Di, what are you doing here?"

Diane smiled at her friend before removing her coat and throwing it over a chair. She grabbed Alexis by the arm and led her to the couch.

--- "So, how was the date?"

Alexis shook her head and pointed an accusatory finger at her best friend.

--- "SEE! I KNEW that you were in on this mess! I just knew that Sam—"

Diane interrupted.

--- "No, no, no! I DID not have anything to do with this! This was all Smurfette's doing. She simply called me and let me know what she was up to—"

--- "And you didn't try to stop her?!"

Diane pursed her lips before reaching into her purse for her flask.

--- "HELL NO! I figured that you could use a little spice in your life. I take it that the wax cleared the cobwebs?"

Alexis rolled her eyes and stood up to finish clearing the table.

--- "I'm not discussing what the wax removed with you, thank you—"

--- "Prude."

She threw a napkin on the table.

--- "I am NOT a prude!"

Diane laughed and choked on the contents of the flask.

--- "Are you kidding me? You are the definition of a prude, Alexis! You blush and turn red over everything remotely sexual."

--- "Oh, yes, and excuse me, Di, but do me a favor… and I don't care of this is being prudish, but can you NOT pick up the phone when you and Max are playing wild wild west? I don't need to hear how you like to ride his pony—"

Diane cleared her throat.

--- "As I informed Max, I do not ride ponies; I like nice strong stallions!"

She bit her lip thinking about her love of… riding. Alexis, covered her face.

--- "Whatever. I just don't need that image in my head!"

Her friend shook her head in disappointment.

--- "Unfortunately there was no riding today."

Alexis laughed.

--- "What, no saddle?"

The woman scoffed at her best friend.

--- "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I've a closet FILLED with saddles! There is ALWAYS a saddle—"

--- "So what was the problem?"

Diane frowned.

--- "My stallion turned into a gelding."

Alexis covered her mouth so as not to laugh and walked over to the couch and sat down beside her friend.

--- "Honey, are you telling me that Max… was to the minimum?"

She sadly nodded her head.

--- "If by minimum you mean zero, nada, nothing, then yes."

Alexis had to concentrate on not laughing at her friend, although considering the way that Diane had mocked her and Mac, it was rather difficult not to.

--- "Um [ahem], what happened? When I was on the phone with you, it seemed that your stallion was about to throw you up in the air."

Diane took another swig from her flask.

--- "Well, the rodeo left town after Edward Quartermaine crashed into it."

--- "That was two months ago."

--- "You're telling me."

Alexis could no longer help herself; she began to laugh hysterically. Diane smacked her best friend on the arm.

--- "What the hell are you laughing about?! This isn't funny!"

Alexis had tears in her eyes.

--- "YES, it is! You were the one making fun of me and Mac and his inability to… you know… and you're telling me that you've had this problem for the past two months?!"

Diane took another large swig from her flask, emptying it before going to her best friend's refreshment table and pouring herself another drink.

--- "I'm hurt Lex! I've been suffering! SUFFERING, I tell you! NOTHING works on him! I think it's that damn medication he's been on since the accident."

Alexis smirked as she got up to fix her own drink.

--- "So what happened?"

Diane looked at her friend with sad little waif eyes.

--- "I bought these really cute cowgirl and boy outfits, I even had a lasso! He got really into it, but then that was the end of it! No pistols were drawn!"

She sat back on the couch looking quite pathetic and tipsy. Alexis gave her a sympathetic smile.

--- "Well, I guess you're going to have to give the stallion a break, and try out the mechanical bull."

Diane cut her eyes at her best friend and leaned back into the couch.

* * *

Mathieu decided to take a walk by the pier instead of sitting in his room all night. He found himself sitting on one of the benches overlooking Wyndemere. While he had never been to Port Charles prior to this trip, he knew right away that the castle across the water on its own little island belonged to Alexandra's family.

_**Flashback.**_

_--- "So tell me about your family."_

_The young couple decided to be daring and escaped to a diner in "downtown" Chatham. They knew that if they were discovered to have left their respective school grounds, they would be forbidden from leaving the school itself for some time, and their parents would be called. Despite this high penalty, it was the thrill of being caught that made their secret love more intriguing._

_Alexis never liked discussing her family, because outside of Stefan, she felt as though she did not have anyone._

_--- "Why do you want to know about them?"_

_He smiled at her as he fed her a spoon of the apple pie a la mode they were sharing._

_--- "I want to know everything about you. I… I love you."_

_He had never said the words to anyone outside of his family, and she had never heard the words from anyone, not even those in her family. She blushed and ran out of the shop._

_Mathieu grabbed her jacket from the chair and ran after her._

_--- "Alexandra! Where are you going?! It's chilly out here! Come back!"_

_She stopped halfway when she realized that it was a cold February in Maine. Mathieu quickly caught up to her and helped her put the jacket on; he noticed that she was crying._

_--- "Cherie, why are you crying?"_

_Alexis shook her head and wiped away her tears._

_--- "It's nothing. I'm just being stupid."_

_He put his arm around her as he led her back into the diner; just before reentering, he turned her head to face him and gave her a tender kiss on the lips._

_--- "You're not stupid. There's nothing stupid about you. And even if there were, I wouldn't love you less."_

_Alexis stared him in the eyes for a few moments before repeating the words that she had never heard or said._

_--- "I love you, too."_

_She began to cry again. Mathieu took her face in his hands and connected his forehead to hers._

_--- "I don't know what your family has done to you, Alexandra, but know that I will never hurt you."_

_She continued to stare into his eyes and nodded. The two kissed once more._

_They walked back into the diner where Alexis recounted to Mathieu the horrors of living in the Cassidine household._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Mathieu needed a smoke. He pulled out his kit and began stuffing and rolling the contents into the paper. As he licked the paper to keep the contents inside, he was interrupted.

--- "Drop what you're doing, and turn around slowly."

Mathieu, not knowing what was going on complied and slowly turned around to face the man who had his gun drawn toward him.

* * *

Diane hiccupped as she sat on the couch cradling her third glass of straight vodka. Alexis brought a garbage can into the living room and placed it beside her best friend.

--- "Di, if you plan on vomiting, please do so in the trashcan, rather than on my couch or rug, okay?"

The poor woman looked incredibly miserable and upset as she looked at her friend.

--- "Whatever you want Lex… tell me about your date; I'm sure it was worse than what I'm currently going through. That'll make me feel better."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Wow, that's nice! My life sucking should certainly make yours worthwhile! Thanks!"

Diane shook her heavy head.

--- "No! You know what I mean!"

--- "Actually, I don't, but I'll tell you about it anyway."

Diane attempted to stand to give her friend a grateful hug, but she stumbled back into her spot.

---"S—ss-ank you!"

Alexis laughed at how drunk her friend was.

--- "You really might want to slow down on the drinking. You'll regret it in the morning—"

Diane waved her hand at her friend.

--- "PLEASE! No men come here, Lex! I'm not going to wake up naked with anyone—"

She stared and frowned at Alexis.

--- "Just don't take advantage of me, Alexis."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "The stallion, as you call it, may not come by this way very often die, but I certainly ensure that the butcher man gave me a nice cut of the sausage."

Diane pursed her lips and squinted her eyes trying to make sense of what her friend had just said.

--- "EW! You're a dirty dirty girl, Lex."

--- "Do you want to know what happened last night or not?"

--- "Yes yes I do!"

Alexis recounted the details of the night to her best friend, hoping that Diane wasn't too far gone to understand the situation; she really wanted some sound advice as to what to do about telling Sam about Mathieu.

--- "… and so now he's in the picture, and I have no idea what to do."

Diane struggled to keep her eyes open by the time Alexis finished her story.

--- "Um, so let me get this straight, you not only have the option of a police baton, but NOW you're looking at a large French soccer ball going into your goal?! My life sucks."

The woman passed out at her spot.

--- "Oh Di, it seriously astounds me that that's all you retained from my problem."

Alexis took the glass from her friend and placed it on the table. She then moved her feet onto the couch, and placed the garbage can closer to the couch.

As she went to finish clearing the table, she noticed her daughter pulling into the driveway.

--- "Okay, Lex... it's showtime."

* * *

Sam pulled up to the lake house; noticing Diane's car parked behind hers, she decided that she was not yet ready to go inside. She parked her mother's car in the driveway, in the same spot she had previously taken it, and went for a walk to the lake. It was a relatively mild evening for a November in upstate New York, so Sam decided to do something of which she knew her mother would completely disapprove. The closer she got to the lake, the more compelled she felt to go for a swim; swimming had always been a way for her to clear her mind. Sam walked to the dock, quickly stripped out of her clothes and jumped into the water.

She swam back and forth for a period of twenty minutes before she heard a familiar voice call after her.

--- "SAM!"

She stopped swimming and looked up at the dock to see her mother standing there with her arms folded and holding a towel and blanket in her hands.

--- "Hey Mom—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Don't 'hey Mom' me! Come out of the water right now! Are you trying to kill yourself? It's thirty degrees out here! Do you want to catch pneumonia?!"

Sam rolled her eyes and swam to the ladder and climbed up to the dock. Alexis' mouth hung open when she saw her daughter.

--- "You went skinny dipping… in NOVEMBER?"

Sam rolled her eyes as Alexis handed her the towel.

--- "Mom, relax—"

--- "Samantha, don't tell me to relax! It's bad enough that you're swimming in the freezing water in the middle of the night in November, but you decide to do it in the nude! What in the world is wrong with you?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I just needed to think… swimming helps me with that. You need to loosen up."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Okay, you're not about to have this argument with me right now, Sam! I wouldn't have cared if you were fully clothed in the water—"

Sam gave her a look, causing her to roll her eyes.

--- "Fine! What if the neighbors had seen you?"

--- "Mom, the nearest house from here is two acres down and an old couple lives in it; I'm sure whatever they saw was not enough to get the electricity back into Mr. Brooks' little eel, or some moisture into his wife's dried up well."

Alexis looked in the direction of the Brooks' home, then across the lake to the Adams' house; her face reddened.

--- "And what about them over there?"

The Adams' had two teenaged boys, both of whom were outside on their balcony with binoculars staring in their direction; when they noticed that they had been caught, they ran back inside their house. Sam was mortified, but shrugged it off.

--- "Okay, well aside from those two peeping toms with nothing and no one better to do in the middle of the night, it wasn't that serious; it's just skin, Mom. I'm sure that right about now, they're running a perfectly good pair of socks with a nice amount of lotion."

Alexis grabbed Sam's clothes from the ground and handed her a pair of flip-flops to wear back to the house.

--- "Samantha—"

--- "Besides, its not that cold!"

She looked at her daughter; she was shivering. Alexis took the blanket and wrapped it around her.

--- "Honey, your teeth are chattering. Let's go inside."

--- "Thanks Mom."

She wrapped her arms around her obviously freezing daughter in the hopes of providing her with additional warmth as they made their way to the house.

--- "Honey, you could've just gone to the bar or something to think; you didn't have to swim. My goodness, I would've preferred that you go to an indoor pool as opposed to this—"

--- "Mom, you know how much I like the lake—"

Alexis nodded.

--- "I do, but this wasn't the smartest thing you've ever decided to do."

They walked into the living room, where Diane was passed out.

--- "What the hell happened to her?"

Alexis laughed.

--- "She's drunk—"

Sam frowned.

--- "That lush can get drunk? Goodness, what the hell was she drinking? That had to be some seriously strong stuff to get her in that state."

Alexis rolled her eyes as she led her daughter to her room.

--- "Don't worry about her, honey; I think you and I have other things to discuss."

Before going out to retrieve her daughter from the lake, Alexis had quickly managed to start a fire in the fireplace; the room was, as they walked in, quite toasty.

--- "Oh my God Mom, you're fantastic! I hate to admit it, but I'm freezing!"

Alexis smiled as she walked to Sam's bathroom and grabbed her a fresh pair of pajamas and a bathrobe. She gave Sam a kiss on the top of the head and handed her the clothes.

--- "Yes I am. Do you want some tea?"

Sam shook her head and handed the towel to her mother. She quickly changed into the pajamas and rapped the robe tightly around her. Alexis rolled her eyes at her stubborn daughter.

--- "Honey, just sit by the fire."

Sam nodded her head.

--- "I'm freezing."

She moved quickly to the fireplace and sat on the floor in front of it. Alexis followed suit, grabbed a towel from the closet and a pillow from Sam's bed, and sat beside her daughter on the floor.

--- "Okay, I think you and I need to talk, honey."

Alexis put the pillow on her lap and laid the towel on top of it. She patted it so Sam could lay her head on it so she could dry her wet hair for her.

--- "I don't know Mom, it's just really weird right now. I never knew what to ask about my father—"

--- "You never asked."

--- "Mom, you never told me anything about him."

Alexis dried her daughter's hair with the towel, all the while thinking about how similar she was to her father; Mathieu was adventurous. If it had not been for his coercion, Alexis would have never met him by the pond in the park or snuck out to the diner downtown; Sam was just like him.

--- "I know, honey, and I'm sorry about that. I guess I figured you didn't want to know."

--- "I thought you didn't want to tell."

Alexis passed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

--- "Um, where should we start?"

Sam stopped staring at the fire to look up at her mother.

--- "Well, I guess I want to know what happened. I know why you had to give me up, but he didn't want me either?"

Alexis looked back at her daughter; this was a question for which she had no real answer.

--- "First of all, Sam, I always wanted you—"

--- "Well, what about him?"

Alexis' cell phone began to ring; she was grateful for the interruption because she could not honestly answer that question.

--- "I'm sorry, honey… Hello? … Mac? Are you kidding me?! I'll be right there."

Sam sat up and looked at her mother.

--- "What happened?"

Alexis rolled her eyes as she stood up and threw the pillow onto the bed.

--- "Well, here's something I can tell you: if I didn't know better, I'd say your ability to get yourself arrested was inherited from Mathieu."

Sam could not help but smile.

* * *

**Who's team are you rooting for? MacLexis or MatLex?**

Alright, its 3a, I have to be up in 5 hours. Good night.

Oh yea, and if you're reading ONCP, please also let me know what you think about that if you haven't done so already. Thanks.

**AFTER THIS CHAPTER, THE STORY IS MARKED AS "M." IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR SETTINGS TO SEE ALL STORIES, YOU WILL NOT SEE WHEN THE STORY IS UPDATED!!! So, please put it on alert, or change your settings to see all the stories that are updated.**


	14. Tickle Me Elmo

I've been living in the library, so I hope this is good.

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Tickle Me Elmo**

Sam's mouth hung open; she was shocked… well, she couldn't say that she was shocked as she did not know the man, but nonetheless, she was… shocked.

--- "What the hell did he do to get himself arrested?"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I have no idea."

--- "Well, are you going down there? To the PCPD?"

She nodded her head.

--- "Yea, I have to—"

Sam frowned at her mother.

--- "Why do you have to go? It looks to me like he's the Phantom Menace; I think you should let him figure this out on his own."

Alexis made a face at her daughter; she was puzzled as to why Sam was not enthused about her decision to help Mathieu.

--- "Honey, he doesn't have a lawyer, or at least not one around here. I can't leave him there."

Sam's mouth fell open as she looked at her mother.

--- "Oh my goodness, you love him."

Alexis shook her head and walked out of the room toward her own bedroom, knowing that her daughter would undoubtedly follow her.

--- "Sam, I don't know what you're talking about. I just saw him for the first time in nearly thirty years tonight, how in the world could I possibly love him?"

She rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Does that really matter? I mean, the heart, among other things, wants what it wants—"

Alexis turned around and glared at her daughter before heading into her closet to pick out a suit to wear to the PCPD.

--- "Sam, the heart doesn't want anything right now. I just can't leave him sitting in jail."

Sam put her hands up in defeat, before lying down on her mother's bed.

--- "Look, just don't do anything stupid."

--- "What in the world could I possibly do, Sam?"

Sam grabbed a pillow from the bed and laid her head on it.

--- "Just don't let him pour any crepe batter in your frying pan."

Alexis called out from her closet.

--- "Stop."

--- "Well, I'm just saying, Mom. I wouldn't want him scrambling one of your few eggs for you without you finding out where he, or his whisk, has been this whole time."

Alexis stepped out with a suit in hand.

--- "You don't want to come chaperone?"

She thought about it for a second.

--- "Um, I don't know how much I care to watch you stroke his—"

--- "SAM!"

She rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "EGO, Mom, his ego! Geez, you really might want to get your head out of the gutter; Molly might hear you."

Alexis shook her head and pulled Sam from the bed.

--- "Go change your clothes, and please dry your hair."

Sam put her hands in her still wet hair.

--- "Fine, but let me tell you something, Mom; I have no interest in, if you two decide rekindle whatever it is you once had, to watch you unshell his peanuts."

Alexis' face reddened.

--- "God, you're sick!"

Sam laughed aloud.

--- "Oh, Mom, seriously, formalities aren't necessary! I think we've established a fairly close enough relationship that you can call me by government name."

Alexis put both hands on her daughter's shoulders and feigned choking her before gently pushing her towards the door.

---"Go get dressed Sam!"

* * *

Mathieu was sitting in the interrogation room quite agitated by the situation. He could not believe that he had gotten arrested for something so ridiculous. He cursed as he waited for someone to enter the room to tell him that the situation was an absolute joke.

--- "What a f*cking assh0le. He's trying to show how big his baton is. Stupid son of a b!tch."

Mac smiled as he walked into the room. He did not understand a word that was said, as Mathieu swore in French, but Mac knew that it was directed toward him.

--- "Wow, looks like you're in a bit of a pickle... or at least you'll have few of them, Mathieu."

He laughed and shook his head as he stressed the last syllable of the Frenchman's name. The man sat with his hands folded and stared at the commissioner; he thought of several ways he could hurt him.

--- "Is this your way of feeling like a big man, Commissioner? You're arresting me for nonsense?"

--- "From what I've heard from my men, you were caught red-handed with a nice joint; we don't take too kindly to that in this state, Mr. LeGros."

He chuckled at the man's name.

--- "LeGros. Doesn't that mean 'the big?'"

Mathieu glared at the man.

--- "So?"

--- "Well, you might end up being pretty famous at Pentonville."

Mac knocked on the table as he got up and walked out of the room, leaving Mathieu fuming.

--- "Incompetent moron."

* * *

Alexis stepped into the living room dressed in her power suit. She stopped and looked at her best friend passed out on the couch.

--- "Jesus, Diane, you had better not vomit on my couch."

Sam walked in, tossing her freshly blow-dried hair back.

--- "You need to be more concerned about her not dying on your couch, Mom; she kind of looks like crap."

Alexis nodded in agreement.

--- "I think it's safe to say that she'll be staying here for the night."

--- "Well, you might want to move her because she's not only going to wake up with a pounding headache in the morning, but a sore neck."

The two women stared at the fiery attorney sprawled on the couch for a few minutes before Alexis came up with an idea.

--- "Um, let's move her to your room—"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Excuse me? Are you kicking me out because your friend here needs an intervention like ten years ago?"

She smacked her daughter in the arm.

--- "No! Honey, come on, I would never kick you out—"

Sam made a face. Alexis sighed.

--- "AGAIN. I told you I was sorry."

--- "I know; I just wanted to make sure that you ate your words."

The comment earned the younger woman a smack in the back of the head.

--- "HEY!"

Alexis smiled.

--- "After the crap you pulled tonight, Sam, you're lucky that's all you got! I don't think anyone would be upset with me if I put you over my knee!"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Mom, please, it wasn't that bad."

Alexis calculated the night's debacles on her fingers.

--- "The waxing?"

--- "Well, now you've got TWO guys trying to be admission tickets to your ride."

Alexis shook her head and continued.

--- "That ambush dinner with Mac—"

--- "Where you were clearly reminded of how much you enjoy coq au vin."

Alexis ignored her daughter's statement.

--- "Um, the skinny dipping?"

--- "Mom, please there's nothing wrong with that; besides I got a few laps—"

--- "Sam, minors saw you."

Sam shrugged.

--- "Fine, let's just call it a class on anatomy. It was educational."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Ok, whatever. How about the car accident—"

--- "Excuse me! That was NOT my fault! Mom, I was NOT looking to be rear-ended by my father; I think that's your territory—"

Alexis glared at her daughter.

--- "REALLY, Sam?! You need some form of therapy."

Sam crossed her arms across her chest and smiled at her mother.

--- "Mom, you opened the door."

--- "And you just ran right through it! I swear, even if I don't open the door, you kick it open."

Sam could not help but laugh at her mother's assertions.

--- "What can I say? I can't help myself!"

--- "Clearly."

Sam turned her attentions back to Diane.

--- "So since you're putting super lush in my room, I guess I'm going home tonight."

Alexis walked over to Diane and tapped her face.

--- "No, you're staying honey… Di, wake up."

--- "Where exactly am I sleeping?

--- "With your Mommy; we've a lot to discuss."

Sam rolled her eyes as she walked pulled the groggy Diane up from the couch.

--- "Come on you degenerate, you're tipping the scales here! Get yourself together! You're putting the winos of your profession to shame."

Diane drunkenly smiled at the young woman.

--- "Hi Molly! Can I borrow your Tickle Me Elmo for a few hours? I hear he gets really excited when you touch him."

The woman sniffled.

--- "It looks like that's the only man I'll excite for a while."

Alexis and Sam looked at each other and laughed as they dragged the woman to Sam's bedroom for the night.

* * *

As Alexis drove she and Sam to the PCPD, her nerves were completely shot. She was exhibiting signs of road rage that she never before showed.

--- "What are you doing, you moron?! Unbunch your panties and drive!"

Sam sat in the passenger seat and laughed.

--- "Mom, what in the world is wrong with you? You're never this crazy in the car."

--- "I think I'm just tired. It has been a long day."

Sam nodded in agreement.

--- "I think you need some stress balls."

--- "Sam—"

She put her hands up in innocence.

--- "I was TOTALLY being legit. Do you want see under my shoes? COMPLETELY devoid of gutter filth."

Alexis leaned her head against her hand and continued to drive.

--- "Fine. Um, I guess it's a good time to start telling you about your father and me."

Sam squirmed slightly in her seat before looking intently at her mother.

--- "Okay."

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis and Mathieu had been dating for a few months, but since the school semester had ended, she was summoned back to Greece for the summer break, and he to France. As they stood under the bridge saying their goodbyes to each other, Alexis' heart broke._

_--- "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."_

_He passed his hand in her hair, as she lay her head on his chest._

_--- "Alexandra, don't worry, we'll write to each other."_

_She pulled away from him._

_--- "No—"_

_He frowned at her._

_--- "What do you mean, no? Don't you want to steal see me?"_

_She brushed a tear from her cheek._

_--- "You know I do, but—"_

_--- "You don't love me?"_

_She nodded her head. _

_--- "Of course I do! But you know about my family! I told you—"_

_His heart hardened at the mention of her family; despite never meeting them, he hated them nonetheless._

_--- "I wish you could come back to France with me. I don't want you near those people; they're animals."_

_He kissed her softly on the top of the head as she wrapped her arms around him._

_--- "I know, but they're not so bad when I stay out of their way. I mean, Helena and Stavros are pretty scary, but I stay in my room, and even if I didn't, Mikkos would never notice because he hardly talks to me."_

_It hurt his heart whenever he thought about his love having grown up in a cold place such as the Cassadine castle._

_--- "What about Stefan?"_

_She looked up at Mikkos and smiled._

_--- "Yea, Stefan is nice. He's the only one who I think likes me. I don't know, he might love me, but it's probably because he's used to me and feels sorry for me."_

_Mathieu brushed the hair from her face._

_--- "I don't think it's out of obligation; I don't know how anyone could not love you, Alexandra. I loved you from the first moment I saw you."_

_He leaned in and kissed her passionately._

_The bell rang to signal the end of the lunch period; they had to hurry to return to their final classes. Mathieu puller Alexis back to him as she made to leave._

_--- "You'll meet me here at the same time, as soon as we come back from holiday?"_

_She nodded her head._

_--- "I'll wait for you."_

_He smiled and kissed her once more before watching her leave._

_XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO_

_The months without any contact with Mathieu were unbearable; Alexis moped around her room at the large castle longing for the day when she was able to return to the states to see the love of her life. She made sure to stay out of Helena and Stavros' way so as to not allow them any reason to keep her from returning to the states; she could not imagine not ever being able to see Mathieu again._

_When August finally arrived, Alexis was ecstatic to be back on the Cassadine plane headed back to the states for another year in Maine. As soon as she arrived back on school grounds, Alexis made her way, as promised, to the spot under the bridge. She waited there for hours, but he never showed up; her heart was broken._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Alexis would have continued but another car cut her off; she was infuriated.

--- "DAMN IT! I HATE when I'm coming, and he pulls out!"

Sam's mouth fell open; she was too shocked to even laugh.

--- "My goodness, Mom! CLEARLY the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"

Alexis blushed as she turned into the PCPD parking lot.

--- "Shut up, Sam. We need to get the tree from police custody right now; do you think you'll be able to go in there without getting yourself arrested?"

Sam smiled.

--- "I think I can manage that Mommy."

* * *

Have a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving folks.

Thank you for reading. See you after **December 16** at which time we'll delve into MatLexis/MacLexis, SamThieu, etc.


	15. Trees

**Well look at what the cat dragged in… ME. **

Ok, I'm beyond exhausted… But since I could not stand to look at another law book for a couple of hours, I quickly typed this up for you. [And myself because I sincerely missed writing.]

Many thanks for the well wishes, and super thanks to my tweeps who have put up with my crankiness and many "twants."

Thanks to M for her skunk comment.

UNEDITED and remember due to SORAS'd Alexis and Sam found each other earlier in age.

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Trees**

Alexis stepped out of the car and marched authoritatively toward the PCPD with Sam following closely behind her.

--- "Mom, what are you going to do?"

--- "I'm going to find out what the hell happened that your father got arrested."

It was still weird for Sam to hear the term, 'your father,' she slightly winced at the sound. The last time it was really used was in relation to her adoptive con artist of a dad. While she loved the man in spite of his obvious faults, he was what he was, and had it not been for Jason's help after her brother died, she would have never learned that Alexis was her mother and God only knows what would have become of her lying and deceitful life.

Alexis noticed the look of trepidation and slight anxiety on her daughter's face as they walked into the precinct. She stopped and grabbed Sam's arm compelling her to do the same.

--- "Honey, listen to me. I know that this is all strange, and quite frankly a bit like déjà vu, considering that you and I found each other pretty late—"

--- "Mom, I was 19—"

Alexis nodded her head in agreement.

--- "True, but you were also a grown 19 year old. You saw and did so much more than the average person you age had."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "You mean, did more guys—"

Alexis cupped Sam's face into her hands.

--- "Sam, I'm not judging you."

--- "Mom, I know."

Alexis sighed.

--- "Are you afraid of what Mathieu will think?"

The young woman looked away from her mother. Alexis turned Sam's face slightly so that she could look her daughter in her eyes.

--- "Honey, you've grown up so much in the past ten years. All of that is in the past. My goodness, considering that he's landed himself in jail, I'm sure that he had gotten himself into quite a few things at your age. Sam, we won't tell him anything that he doesn't need to know—"

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Mom, my reputation around town—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Your reputation around town is that you are a brilliant P.I., my beautiful daughter, and [ahem] Jason's girlfriend. You are not the same person you were when you first came into town. Do you understand me?"

Sam was somewhat relieved by her mother's words. She nodded her head in understanding.

--- "Ok."

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Sweetheart, because he's your father, and if he's anything of a good one, he will love you despite anything you may have done in the past. I know I do… and I always will and have."

Alexis was alluding to Sam's transgression on that hot August night with Ric. While Alexis was beyond livid at her daughter for her actions, she never stopped loving the girl. Understandably, it took some time to repair the broken relationship, but they pushed through it, and had been closer for it.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

She wrapped her arms around her reassured daughter and walked toward Mac's office.

--- "Besides, if he says anything sideways to my daughter, I'll let Mac arrest him so that he'll spend the next few weeks or months unpeeling a few bananas in jail. He'll be having so much smoked sausage thrown his way, he won't know what to do with himself."

Sam shook her head and laughed.

--- "You're disgusting."

Alexis smiled at her daughter.

--- "I like to think that in the passed 10 years, that I've learned a lot from you much as you have from me."

Alexis spotted Mac talking to Lucky. She unwrapped her arm around her daughter and walked directly up to him.

--- "Mac, what the hell is going on here?"

He looked at her and smiled. While she was no longer wearing the sexy outfit she had been in at the restaurant, he never tired seeing her in her designer suits.

--- "I'm glad you took the time to get off the pole to pay us a visit, Lex."

Sam chuckled at the thought that Mac had seen her mother in the sweatpants that she had purchased for her earlier that day. Alexis turned to glare at her, causing the young woman to put her hands up in feigned innocence.

Alexis turned back to Mac.

--- "Mac, this is no time for jokes. Why is Mathieu here?"

He smiled and crossed his arms. She was finding it difficult to look into his eyes as she thought about waking up with him the other night, and realizing how beautiful his eyes really were.

--- "It looks as though one of my men found the good doctor rolling himself a nice herbal remedy."

Sam stood beside her mother.

--- "Oh dear God, my father is a pothead?"

Alexis smacked her daughter's arm.

--- "Samantha, stop it!"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "That's what he said, Mom."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Mac, I want to see him right now."

Mac shook his head and put his arm out leading the way toward the holding room. As she walked ahead of him, he noticed how nicely her skirt fit her. He did not understand how he had worked so many years with the woman and never realized her subtle, yet still overt sensuality.

Alexis walked into the room to find Mathieu sitting down looking like a schoolboy awaiting his punishment in detention.

--- "Mathieu."

He smiled when he saw her.

--- "Alexandra."

Alexis turned to Mac and Sam who were both standing near the door entry.

--- "Mac, if you'll leave me and my client please."

Mac looked a bit annoyed, but he knew procedure.

--- "Sam, let's go—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Um, no. Sam, you can—"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Mom, I'll let you two chat… I, uh, I'm going to have a chat with Lucky for a few minutes."

Alexis saw the pleading look in her daughter's eyes.

--- "Okay, honey. Um, we'll continue this afterwards."

--- "Sure. I'll be waiting for you outside."

Once Sam was out of the room, Mathieu smiled seductively at the woman he loved.

--- "I'm sure that this isn't how you would have ever imagined us in a room with a pair of these."

Alexis rolled her eyes at the man's blatant flirts.

--- "Mathieu, really? You're flirting with me while you're sitting there with your hands in handcuffs. My goodness, you're under arrest for position of marijuana!"

--- "I did not have marijuana, Alexandra! I don't know what Pepe la Pew's been telling you, but I don't, how do you say, get HIGH."

--- "Pepe la Pew? Mathieu, you are aware that he was French?"

He flashed her another smile.

--- "Yes, however, have you noticed Big Mac's hair?"

Alexis shook her head, not wanting to get into a conversation concerning each man's ego, or how sharp their pencils were, or weather they were sharpened or unsharpened; she was fairly certain that when Diane awoke the next morning, she would be recounting this conversation anyway.

She put her briefcase on the table and sat down across from him.

--- "So what the hell happened?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

--- "I was sitting on the docks looking at that dark and dreary Cassadine castle—"

--- "How'd you know that—"

He smiled.

--- "Cherie, really? You told me about your family and about the house that you grew up in. When I was walking along the waterfront, I noticed the dark and dreary castle in the distance; I just knew that it had your family's name written all over it."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Gee, thanks. And beside, the only one that's left is my nephew Nikolas."

His mouth fell open.

--- "No Stavros?"

--- "Nope."

--- "Stefan?"

A sadness filled her eyes.

--- "No."

He knew that she loved Stefan; he was the only one who had ever been kind to her growing up. He reached for her hands.

--- "I'm sorry, Alexandra."

She shook her head.

--- "Don't be. It's all in the past."

--- "Et Helena—"

Alexis laughed aloud.

--- "Please! That old bat will never die. She is still very much alive, although luckily she's found something better to do with her time than to pester me."

He sighed in relief. He knew that she had always been afraid of that wretched woman. In fact, it was because of her that the two had almost broken up.

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis was quite upset over having been ditched everyday that week by Mathieu. Each afternoon during her lunch break, she walked to their spot, hoping that he would show up, but he never did. She was certain that he had broken up with her._

_One night, as she laid in bed close to tears, she heard sounds of rapping against her window. She quickly got up and found Mathieu sitting in a tree outside of the window. She was enthused yet anxious about seeing him._

_--- "What in the world are you doing here?"_

_He smiled at her._

_--- "Are you going to ask me questions, or are you going to let me in, Cherie?"_

_She stepped aside and allowed him room to climb into her room. Luckily because the school was quite exclusive and catered to the rich and uppercrust Europeans, the students were all given their own rooms._

_Once he was in the room, she realized that she was dressed only in her nightgown. She quickly moved to grab her robe, but he pulled her toward him. He kissed her passionately, and she gladly reciprocated before pushing him away._

_--- "I've been waiting a week for you, and you haven't sent a single word to me about where you were, or what happened! I thought you didn't love me anymore, or that you didn't want to be with me! Now you're here in my room, seeing me practically undressed—"_

_He put his finger to her lips._

_--- "It's not like that, Alexandra! I love you! I could never stop loving you!"_

_She had begun to cry at the thought that the one person who loved her for her, might have abandoned her._

_--- "Well then what happened to you? Why didn't you meet me like you said you would?"_

_He pulled a letter from his back pocket and handed it to her._

_--- "Because of this."_

_She took the letter from him and was shocked to notice that it was Helena's handwriting. She looked at him disbelievingly._

_--- "Helena?"_

_He nodded his head. She was still shocked._

_--- "How?"_

_He shook his head._

_--- "I don't know, but she sent this to me anyway."_

_She opened the letter and read it aloud._

_--- "'Dear M. LeGros. I understand that you have taken company with my petite sourite (or little mouse, as I like to refer to her). Please know that she is not of your caliber, and but for our generosity would have been nothing more than a pauper in the street. I ask you for your sake, and the sake of your family name to refrain from involving yourself with this charity case. I would not want your family's fortune to suffer on account of your irresponsible teenaged errors.'"_

_She looked at him._

_--- "So that's why you haven't wanted anything to do with me?"_

_He passed his hand in her hair._

_--- "No! My family found the letter and threatened to have me transferred if they found out that I was with you."_

_She wiped the tears from her face._

_--- "God, you would think I were some kind of leper! Watch out for Alexis, the little mouse, she might infect you with her humble surroundings."_

_He pulled her to him._

_--- "I don't think of you like that, Alexandra. All of the money in the world could never amount to what you mean to me. I hope that you believe this."_

_She sniffled and looked at him._

_--- "So what does this mean?"_

_He brushed the hair from her face._

_--- "It means that we will have to be more daring and adventurous."_

_The idea of being more bad than they had been previously turned the teen on more than she had ever been before; she pulled him toward her bed._

_--- "I love you, Mathieu LeGros."_

_He smiled at her._

_--- "And I love you, Alexandra Davidovitch."_

_The two, for the very first time, succumbed to the love they shared, and made love secretly in Alexis' dorm room._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Alexis smiled at the memory of her first time.

--- "Well, I'm glad that you didn't let Helena scare you away, otherwise—"

He smiled at her.

--- "We wouldn't have a beautiful daughter together. Our Samantha."

Alexis smiled back at the man.

--- "Um, I'm going to go speak to Mac about these charges and getting them dropped."

Just as she made it to the door, Mac walked opened it, hitting her in the nose.

--- "DAMN IT!"

--- "Oh my God, Lex, I'm so sorry!"

Mac pulled a pack of tissues out from his pocket and held one to Alexis' nose.

Sam, hearing her mother's scream ran toward the interrogation room.

--- "Mom, what happened."

Alexis' nose was bleeding.

--- "Crap! I was coming out to see what was going on with these charges just as Mac was opening the door—"

He held the baggy in his hand.

--- "I was coming in to tell you that my men are morons, and arrested him for rolling a cigarette."

Alexis could not believe her ears. As she held her bleeding nose she berated the man.

--- "You're telling me that your people are so incompetent that they couldn't tell the difference between a joint and a cigarette?!"

He blushed in embarrassment.

--- "Well Lex, it was dark, and he was rolling it—"

Mathieu interjected into the conversation.

--- "Actually, that's common practice in France. I'm sorry, but your American cigarettes are disgusting. Now remove these bracelets from my arms."

Sam laughed aloud as Mac walked over to the man and uncuffed him.

--- "Um, Mathieu, they're called handcuffs here."

He was also in awe of having heard his 29 year old daughter actually speaking and to him for the first time; previously it was in hushed tones and to her mother. He felt like a proud father.

--- "Er, thank you. I'll remember that next time."

Sam could not help but laugh again at the thought that there might be a next time.

--- "Mom, I guess that apple—"

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "Samantha—"

Mathieu was happy to see his daughter smile and laugh for the first time since meeting her. Perhaps given the situation of the night, the more appropriate term would be seeing, rather than meeting her.

Mac walked back toward Alexis.

--- "Look, I'm really sorry about all this, especially about your nose. If I had known that my men would have been so careless—"

She shook her head.

--- "Mac, it's alright. No harm, no foul."

He found her sexy even as she head the bloody tissue to her nose.

--- "Look, Lex, I know that tonight was a bit of a bust, but I'd love to still take you out."

She smiled at him, while in the corner of her noticing Mathieu looking at her.

--- "Um, I think we'll have to talk about that later."

Mac nodded and smiled slightly as he walked out, leaving the women with the Frenchman, whom he did not like one bit, to talk in his precinct.

Sam could almost feel a tension rising in the room, so she turned to her mother and smiled.

--- "So, um, Mom, considering the way the evening went, you might want to consider rubbing someone's head for luck. I mean you seem to have a couple of options."

Alexis, having finally stopped the bleeding in her nose, walked over to Sam and kissed her on top of the head before walking her toward Mathieu.

--- "Mathieu, I'd like you to meet Samantha, although she goes by Sam, your daughter. She is one of the three lights of my life, despite her interesting and filthy humor."

He smiled and after rubbing his wrists from the strain of having them in handcuffs, he outstretched his hand to his daughter.

--- "Hi Samantha—"

She corrected him; she did not know him well enough to allow him to call her by her full name. In fact the only person who did so was her mother, and it was not as though she had ever been given a choice in the matter. Alexis called her by her full name whenever she was in trouble.

--- "Sam—"

He nodded his head.

--- "Excuse me, please, Sam."

Alexis gave her daughter a squeeze on the shoulders.

--- "And honey, this is Mathieu: your father, clearly a jailbird."

Sam felt like a teenager meeting her father for the first time.

--- "It's nice to actually meet you."

He smiled at the beautiful woman who, in his eyes, looked very much like the love of his life standing beside her.

--- "You have no idea how happy it makes me to meet you."

Alexis looked from her daughter to her… something… It amazed her how she had never had a normal relationship with any of her daughters' fathers except the one standing before her, and she had no idea where it had gone wrong.

Nonetheless, she was happy, for Sam's sake, that her daughter would hopefully have a relationship with the man. Despite the fact that she had always been silent on the matter, Alexis had a feeling that her daughter wanted to know about her father. The odd thing about the matter, however, was that her daughter never asked, so Alexis, simply never told… she simply didn't know.

* * *

Now, PLEASE review and make me happy because my brain is certain to explode if you don't. THANKS for reading!

The chapter is subject for editing, nothing major… perhaps lengthening when I actually finish exams, so stay tuned.

**The hiatus continues… **


	16. Discomfort and Oddities

Since NLG made me super happy not only on twitter, but on FB, I have been inspired to write you turkeys a chapter a WHOLE WEEK EARLY (and I took the day off after slaying two large dragons in two days. I'm WHIPPED)

MANY many thanks again for your continued support, reading, and REVIEWING of this story. I'm DYING being unable to write to my heart's content. T- 6 days.

M, I'm stealing your nickname for Mathieu. THANKS! :o)

UNEDITED and I warn you, I was kind of falling asleep towards the end so I'll reread it in the morning before I study for the next two exams.

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Discomfort and Oddities**

After a few moments of awkward silence, Alexis cleared her throat.

--- "Okay. I think we should—"

The door to the interrogation room opened. It was Mac.

--- "Um, I'm really sorry to interrupt this… thing, but, uh Mathieu, you need to come fill out some paperwork to reclaim your belongings, then you're free to go."

Mathieu scowled at the man before nodding his head and walking out of the room, making sure to bump into him as he passed.

--- "Hey—"

Alexis cut him off.

--- "Mac, I think you need to let that go."

--- "Lex, that was assault of an officer! It's a felony offense!"

Alexis rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

--- "You kept the man in custody for an hour over rolling a _cigarette_. I think a little bit of leniency is in order."

He smiled back.

--- "Well, for you, I suppose I can give him a break. I mean, if he's anything like that one there, he'll be back."

Sam interrupted.

--- "Hey! I haven't been arrested for quite some time! AND, might I add the last time I WAS, it was because I was being framed and _someone_ [ahem] didn't believe me."

Sam glared at her mother, who shrugged.

--- "Honey, I told you that I couldn't let Jerry know that I was working him—"

--- "So you let me spend the night, and refused to pay bail?"

Alexis wanted to choke Mac for bringing up the incident. Although they had forgiven each other for the "_misunderstanding"_ that was the debacle called Jerry Jacks, it was still a sore subject, especially for Sam.

Alexis glared at Mac before looking at her daughter.

--- "I had Nikolas pay the bail, Sam!"

--- "Still—"

Alexis pointed an accusatory finger at her daughter.

--- "You were no innocent, Samantha. You were half naked—"

Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Um, in a bikini."

Alexis countered.

--- "You might as well have not been wearing anything. What was I supposed to think?"

Mathieu walked into the room and stared at the scene. The former, and perhaps still, love of his life, and his… daughter (it was still odd, and quite frankly shocking, for him to imagine that he was a father), were pointing accusatorily at each other, while Mac, his nemesis, stared dumbfounded at what had to be his doing.

--- "[ahem] What's going on here? Is MY family arguing?"

Mac shook his head.

--- "Your family? Really?"

Mathieu smirked at the man.

--- "Yes, Big Mac—"

Sam laughed aloud.

--- "Excuse me? Big Mac? Hmm, how long were you in here, Mathieu?"

Alexis sighed as the men stared at the young woman.

--- "Ignore her. Mathieu, you will come to learn that our daughter is a bit of a… what's the word I'm looking for?"

Mac spoke up.

--- "Pain in the ass? Smart ass?"

Alexis snapped her fingers.

--- "YES! Exactly! Thanks Mac."

Mac nodded his head, while returning Mathieu's glares.

--- "No problem! It's easy to finish your sentences; I HAVE known you and Sam for YEARS."

Sam put her hands up.

--- "Um, okay, this is getting a bit uncomfortable, so I'm thinking this is over. Uh, Mathieu, I take it everything is okay? You're free to leave?"

Mathieu looked almost hurt and rejected; he had been hoping to spend some time getting to know Sam, and getting reacquainted, in the cleanest sense of the word, that is… at least for now… with Alexis.

--- "Er, yes."

He extended his hand once again to his daughter as Mac looked almost amused at the sad look in the man's eyes.

--- "It was nice meeting you, Saman— pardon, Sam. I hope we can—"

Sam made a face at the man.

--- "No, I think you misunderstood—"

She looked at her mother. Alexis bit her lip for a second before relenting.

--- "Mati—"

He smiled at the sound of his nickname coming from Alexis.

--- "Would you like a ride?"

Sam smacked her mother in the arm. Alexis frowned at her.

--- "What?"

The young woman smiled at the men.

--- "Um, if you'll excuse us for a second."

She pulled her mother aside.

--- "Mom, you haven't seen this man in nearly thirty years, and from the looks of it, the sexual tension in this room is getting a bit comfortable for me with both of your—"

--- "Sam, both of my nothings!"

She rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Please, you still love Mathieu, and you've some kind of something with Mac."

Alexis smiled at the men praying that they did not hear Sam's public service announcement. She pulled Sam closer to her.

--- "Honey, will you be quiet about that! It isn't true."

--- "And yet you're getting defensive."

--- "I'm not defensive."

Sam crossed her arms across her chest.

--- "Argumentative."

Alexis' arms crossed as well.

--- "Samantha."

Sam smiled.

--- "See! Now, seriously Mom, can you just arrange it so that I can get to know baby daddy number one. I guess that way, I'll be able to make a clear decision—"

Alexis closed her eyes as she pressed the bridge of her nose; she was almost afraid to ask her next question.

--- "What decision would that be?"

Sam smiled and grabbed her mother's hand.

--- "Um, who you should choose to father your next baby!"

Alexis pulled her hand from Sam and wrapped it around her daughter's neck. Mac cleared his throat.

--- "Lex, you're in a police department; I don't think it exactly wise for you to kill your daughter in here."

Mathieu scoffed.

--- "Not that I'm condoning the murder of my daughter, Alexandra, but I am going to assume that these incompetent morons would not be able to solve the murder even if Big Mac is the witness. I think it's pretty clear that they don't know merde."

Alexis let go of Sam's neck, and kissed her on the forehead.

--- "Don't worry boys, I wouldn't dare kill my big one here. Besides, its far more fun to torture her alive."

--- "Sure, Mom."

Sam rolled her eyes and turned to face her father.

--- "So, Mathieu, it looks like you're coming with us."

He smiled at the younger woman.

--- "That sounds wonderful. Where to?"

Alexis smiled as the man she had first loved stared at her… their daughter.

--- "How about we move this to the lake house."

She was certain that she had had a slight groan from Mac, however before she could say anything, Sam teasingly nudged her and whispered,

--- "Moving a bit quickly are we Mom?"

Alexis pinched her daughter's arm and hissed in her ear, all the while smiling at Mathieu's inquisitiveness as to the women's relationship.

--- "Honey, my little jelly bean, you seem to have forgotten that you're sleeping with Mommy tonight."

Sam laughed aloud and turned to face her mother.

--- "Seriously Mom, you do know that I could just go home right?"

Alexis took her daughters face in her hands before giving her a hug.

--- "Oh, honey—"

She stuck carefully stuck her hand in Sam's back pocket and slowly removed her "wallet" and cell phone. Since she still had her daughter's car keys, and had driven them both to the precinct, there was no way Sam was escaping. She quickly slipped them into her purse as she let her daughter go. She tapped her on the nose.

--- "I don't know what I would do without you!"

Sam eyed her mother suspiciously.

--- "Um, okay? I guess you'd have permanent residence in the Gobi desert?"

Mathieu loved the interaction between mother and daughter. He hoped that he could get the chance to have such a relationship with Sam.

--- "So, Mati, I guess we should all get going; we have a lot to catch on."

Alexis realized that that was an understatement if ever there was one. He smiled at her, while sensing Mac glaring in his direction.

--- "That sounds good."

Mac shook his head at Alexis.

--- "Lex, um, do you mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Alexis nodded her head and followed him out of the door.

--- "Mati, please do not let that one corrupt you as she did me, although I have to say that she has taught me a lot in the past few years."

She winked at him, knowing that he had seen her pickpocketing their daughter… that was going to be an adjustment for her to remember that same was no longer "her" daughter, but part of an "our," assuming of course that Mathieu was truly interested in getting to know Sam. Alexis was weary of the man she had not seen in years.

Sam gave her mother an inquisitive look.

--- "Hmm, I'm not sure I like the way that sounds."

Alexis blew a kiss to her daughter before stepping out to speak with Mac, leaving Sam to spend some quality time with her father.

* * *

Mac stood at his door, waiting for Alexis to come into his office. When she finally walked in smiling at him, he took in the sweet aroma that lingered as she passed and took a seat.

--- "What is this about Mac?"

He leaned against his desk and thought about what he wanted to say. He liked the woman, that was certain, but everything had been quite awkward between them ever since the night after the non-wedding, and then he insinuated that she could no longer have kids, then he had Robin send her flowers, and then the kids tried to set them up, and because of that, she now had frog legs competing for her attention; needless to say, Mac was afraid that he would once again put his foot in his mouth.

--- "Lex, don't you think this is moving a little fast?"

She tossed her hair and looked at him strangely.

--- "What are you talking about? We haven't had a real date or anything? I mean, it was weird waking up with you and all—"

He reddened at the memory.

--- "No, I wasn't talking about that! Lex, you told me he was the reason you squeezed the cream out of éclairs! When he showed up earlier today, it did not seem to me as though you really wanted to get to know him—"

--- "Mac, I never said that."

He gave her a look. She rolled her eyes.

--- "I meant, aside from the éclairs comment, I never said that I did not want to get to know him. I'm just, I don't know—"

He put his hand on her shoulder.

--- "Nervous?"

She nodded her head.

--- "This is going to sound really ridiculous, because she's a grown woman and all, at least she continuously makes sure to remind me of that, yet she does silly things like going skinny dipping in thirty degree weather—"

--- "Yea, well at least she didn't somehow manage to take a nice amount of money from your bank account to buy a bunch of clothes for herself—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "That's a crime, you should really talk to her about that."

Mac scoffed.

--- "Are we really going to talk about criminal acts, Ms. Davis, mother of the woman who currently holds the longest rap sheet? Mother of the woman who is dating the man who has the longest rap sheet of all the criminals we've encountered?"

Alexis smacked him playfully.

--- "Excuse me! My daughter's rap sheet is basically from before I got a hold of her—"

Mac started counting on his hand.

--- "Um, the shooting of Diego Alcazar?"

Alexis waved her hand dismissively.

--- "Proclaimed innocent. If you remember, Diego resurrected—"

She stopped midsentence; of course he remembered that Diego killed Mac's daughter, Georgie. She gave his hand a squeeze.

--- "I'm sorry Mac."

He squeezed her hand back before releasing it to sit at his desk. He looked at a picture of Georgie he kept on the desk; it was a picture of her holding a book on Paris.

--- "You know, Lex, I still can't believe that she's gone. I mean, there are times when I walk pass her bedroom door, and expect to her the French language tapes playing. She wanted to spend her last year in college there so badly."

He sighed and shook his head as he passed his hand along the picture. Alexis, while she sympathized, could not imagine ever losing one of her girls. Mac was a good man, although neither Maxie nor Georgie were his biologically, and even in the instance of Robin, he loved his girls immensely. He looked at her with those beautiful eyes she had never before noticed, at least not until this whole strangeness arose between them.

--- "It's going on eight years since she died, you know."

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "I know."

He sighed.

--- "I swear, you would think that after all this time, that I would have gotten over it—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Mac, you don't just get over losing your kid. I'm sure you just learn to cope with it, but the pain never goes away. My goodness, I remember when I lost my sister—"

She began to get choked up at the sad memory. She took a deep breath and looked at Mac with tears in her eyes.

--- "You know, Mac, we didn't come in here to lament over our losses! I'm sure Kristina and Georgie are up there wondering why the hell we're boohooing when Christmas is around the corner."

Mac laughed and leaned back in his chair and looked at Alexis as she crossed her legs looking in her bag for a tissue. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a box of Kleenex.

--- "Here Lex—"

She smiled and gladly took the tissue.

--- "Thanks."

He returned her smile and put the tissues away.

--- "Now, back to the issue at hand. You said that you were nervous about something in regard to Sam?"

_**Flashback**_

_For the next month, Alexis and Mathieu spent several hours together, almost every night, in her bedroom. They were learning each other's bodies, one freckle and scar at a time._

_As they lied in her bed, with her head on his chest, Alexis made an announcement._

_--- "Mati?"_

_He passed his hand down her spine._

_--- "Hmm?"_

_She looked up at him._

_--- "I'm pregnant."_

_Mathieu held onto her for a few moments before letting go._

_--- "Um, you're pregnant?"_

_She nodded her head as she bit her lip._

_--- "Yes."_

_She spoke almost as low as… well as the little mouse she was referred to when she was in the Cassadine household._

_Mathieu looked at her before getting out of the bed to pace the room._

_--- "Ok, um, what are we going to do?"_

_Alexis knew that she was not going to get rid of the child. The life growing inside of her was not only a symbol of the love that she and Mathieu shared, but also of the unconditional love that the child would have toward her, and her toward it. She could never think about throwing that kind of love away._

_--- "I want to keep it."_

_Mathieu stopped pacing and sat on the bed._

_--- "Cherie, will your family let you?"_

_She shrugged her shoulders. She honestly had no idea what her "family" would or would not do. This was new territory._

_--- "I don't know. But, you know what, I don't care! This is my baby, and I won't let anyone take it away from me."_

_Mathieu pulled her toward him and gave her a kiss on the lips._

_--- "Well, I guess there's only one thing left to be done."_

_He passed her hand on her cheeks before moving them to her stomach._

_--- "We won't tell them, not my family and definitely not yours. We'll keep this as a secret."_

_She smiled at him._

_--- "Really? Do you think we can manage to keep this secret?"_

_He leaned her back on the bed and pulled the sheet off from her. He kissed her until her reached her stomach. He laid his head gently on it, and looked up at her._

_--- "Together, we can do anything."_

_He reached his hand out to her. She took it and placed her other one on her stomach near where his head was resting. _

_The three of them were a family in that moment._

_**End of Flashback**_.

She looked up toward the ceiling before looking at him.

--- "Sam is a tough woman. I mean, she has her heart locked away behind a vault. But, once you key the combination to the safe, you realize that she's not as tough and hard-core as she makes herself to be. My daughter is emotional. She probably would hate me for telling you this… I don't even know why I'm telling you this—"

--- "Come on, Lex! We're friends—"

He felt as though he were choking on that last word; the more time he spent with her, the more he realized that was the furthest thing he wanted to be to her. Mac did not want to be her friend; he wanted to be more than that.

--- "You can talk to me about anything."

She shook her head and stood up. She did not feel comfortable having a conversation about another man with Mac. Sure, she and he were not anything to each other, but there clearly was potential, and the code of ethics was not to talk about your past relationships and their effects on you with your potential.

--- "Um, you know what, I think I should probably get going. I mean, I definitely left Sam with her… her… father! How weird is that? She's already uncomfortable with the whole situation—"

Mac grimaced.

--- "She seemed pretty okay to me."

Alexis ran her hands through her hair again.

--- "See, that's because you don't know my daughter like I do, Mac."

With that, she made to leave, but Mac was up in a flash stopping her.

--- "You never did answer me really about going out."

She smiled at him.

--- "Well, that's probably because I had a busted nose!"

He once again reddened.

--- "I'm really sorry about that, Lex. How is it?"

She tapped it slightly.

--- "I mean it hurts and all, but I'm pretty sure it's not broken! Don't worry about it."

--- "Well that's good! Not that it hurts, but that it isn't broken."

Alexis laughed.

--- "I know what you meant."

She opened the office door and walked out, leaving Mac disappointed to once again not get a response as to his question.

* * *

Once Alexis left the room, Sam looked at Mathieu.

--- "So, um, this is weird."

He rubbed his wrist.

--- "Yes it is. Er, I want you to know, Saman—sorry, Sam—"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "You know what, you can call me Samantha. I mean it's not like I haven't been called that before."

He smiled at the pretty young woman.

--- "Thank you, Samantha. I want you to know that I'm not really in the habit of getting arrested."

Sam laughed at the irony.

--- "Well, that's a good thing, believe me!"

While he knew what she meant, he sensed an underlying meaning to it. He decided to wait until their relationship become more comfortable; he did not want to push the woman into things she may have been uncomfortable disclosing to a father she never knew.

--- "I see you and your mother have a nice relationship."

She bit her lip.

--- "Yea, we do. I mean, it wasn't easy in the beginning, and we've still got out problems, but we're pretty close."

He nodded his head.

--- "Well, you would never know that looking at the way you two interact. I can see how much you love her—"

Sam moved to the table and sat down.

--- "I do. I love my mom more than I ever thought I could. I love my family in general."

He moved to sit in the chair he had previously occupied when he was being held for possession.

--- "Your family?"

Sam smiled.

--- "Yea. I have two sisters, plus there's Nikolas, and Spencer—"

He never realized that Alexis had had anymore children.

--- "Alexandra has four more children?"

--- "No, no, no. It's we three girls, um, Kristina and Molly; then Nikolas is my cousin, her nephew, and Spencer is his son."

He nodded.

--- "But she's not married?"

Sam reddened.

--- "Um, no, not anymore. Not for years."

He noticed her blushing. He wanted to know everything about Alexis, but he figured that it did not make much sense to ask Sam, when he could just as well talk to Alexis about it himself.

--- "I should probably tell you, Samantha, that you have eight more siblings."

Her mouth fell open.

--- "Are you serious?"

He looked at her seriously as he nodded his head.

--- "Well, you see, I was married four times—"

Sam was astounded.

--- "Wow. That's… a lot."

He smiled at her.

--- "I'm joking! I don't have any other kids. Just you, I guess."

The young woman laughed.

--- "If you promise me that you'll tell my mother that, I won't bother you for a car when I turn 30 in—"

He finished her sentence.

--- "In May."

She was shocked that he knew. Sam did not know what to think. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask him, but like with her mother, she was afraid to ask. In fact, it wasn't until months later, that she had actually begun asking Alexis questions about her childhood and her past. Sam felt, and knew, in Alexis' case, that life must have been so difficult for her parents, that it was best not to press on revealing the matter until they were ready. She knew that in Alexis' case that she did not, rather than giver her adoption, keep her, because growing up in the Cassidine household was difficult enough for a young orphan, but as an infant it would be ten times worse.

In regard to Mathieu, Sam simply hoped that the same were true, and that he did not go along with giving her up for adoption because he did not want to deal with raising a child. She wanted to ask him those questions, but she could not bring herself to.

Mathieu picked up on her discomfort, so he decided to change the subject.

--- "So, er, what do you do?"

Sam knew that he was avoiding discussing what happened between he and her mother. She decided to leave it at that; he probably wanted to speak to Alexis first, or speak to them together.

--- "I'm a P.I."

He was impressed.

--- "Oh, a Private Investigator? That's interesting! What made you get into that?"

--- "Well, I guess I had a lot of practice fitting into various situations, so this career came fairly easily for me."

He was interested in his daughter's career. It wasn't every day that someone learns that their kid is a P.I.; being an adventurous person himself, he could not help but feel that his daughter got that from him.

--- "Wow, that's great! What's the most interesting case that you've gotten?"

Sam smirked.

--- "Well, that's a really good question because I've gotta tell you, these cases are insane! My partner and I—"

--- "Are you married?"

Sam recoiled slightly.

--- "NO!"

Mathieu was shocked by her response.

--- "You don't want to get married?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "It's not that at all! I do want to get married, it's just that I also don't want to see Mom in the insane asylum."

--- "What does that mean?"

She laughed.

--- "It means that my mother HATES my boyfriend, and would sooner have me handcuffed to her for the rest of my days than to have my ever marry him."

Mathieu frowned.

--- "He can't be that bad."

Sam gave him a knowing smiled.

--- "Um, I think that's up for interpretation. As a matter of fact, I should probably call him and let him know that... um, never mind. I should just probably call him."

She leaned over to reach into her pocket, but alas there was nothing there.

She stood up quickly startling Mathieu.

--- "What's wrong?"

Sam knew something felt off when she sat down on the table.

--- "Where the hell is my phone? AND my money and credit card?"

Mathieu looked at her with almost an amused look on his face. He could not give Alexis up, so he simply shrugged.

* * *

When Alexis realized that she had not answered Mac's request, she smacked herself on the forehead and turned back around toward his office. She knocked once and poked her head in.

--- "Mac?"

He was once again seated at his desk looking at Georgie's picture.

--- "Yeah?"

She smiled at him.

--- "How about breakfast?"

He frowned at her.

--- "Breakfast?"

Her grin never wavered.

--- "Yea. I mean, you and I woke up together, you know, but we never had breakfast."

He nodded his head.

--- "Okay. Breakfast it is."

--- "Good."

* * *

**So the chapter was supposed to be longer, but I sincerely cannot keep my eyes opened. **

**Hiatus is over next week, so stay tuned!**

**Now REVIEW and make me happy. THANKS!**

_BTW, Mathieu or Mac? At this point, it's all Alexis' choice because I have NO idea who she's going to choose! LOL._

* * *

**12/12/09**

To Answer **LondonNow's** question about Georgie dying 8 years ago as opposed to 2, because of the SORASing, the timeline is changed. Remember, Kristina was a kid, about 6 or 7, when it happened, but now she's 16.

Alexis and Sam have been bonding for 10 years, instead of 3 in this story. Sam also never lived her life as Angela Monroe, as she came to PC when she was about 17-18. Prego shortly thereafter, and dated Jason from about 18-20.

Any other changes in history, just roll with em! lol. I hope this clears up any confusion!

Thanks again for reading and reviewing! T - 4 days!!! I CANNOT WAIT!


	17. Hearts

After spending the entire day in the library yesterday, when I got home, I couldn't think to look at another law book. Ever experience a brain ache? Yea… So, being the vampire that I am, I typed most of this well into the night/morning, as usual. I was going to make it much longer by giving it to you on Wednesday, but I couldn't wait.

You have been FANTASTIC with the reviewing! PLEASE keep them coming! You have no idea how inspiring they are.

**Housekeeping**

Folks, please remember we're still in the same day we've been in since the middle of Chapter 9. Aside from our contract players (Alexis, Sam, Mathieu, and Mac), everyone else is a recurring character. We've got to let the day play out before the others come back into the mix. They're coming; I promise!

London, I wrote a note at the very end of the previous chapter concerning the timeline in re Georgie's death.

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Hearts**

She closed the door behind her and walked back to the interrogation room where she had left Sam and Mathieu for much longer than she had anticipated.

--- "Okay! Sorry for taking so long!"

Mathieu took one look and approached her.

--- "You've been crying, Cherie; what did that man do to you?"

Sam, forgetting about her stolen phone and wallet, worriedly approached her mother.

--- "Mom, are you okay? What happened?"

Alexis waved her hand to the man, while giving Sam's shoulder a squeeze.

--- "Sam, Mati, I'm fine! Mac and I just got into a conversation about loss, and I got emotional over Kristina."

Mathieu frowned and took Alexis' hand into his.

--- "I'm sorry. Sam told me that she had sisters, but I did not realize that one of them—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, no. She was my sister—"

Mathieu was now truly confused. The Alexis, rather Alexandra, he knew was a mistreated only child; this new sibling was news to him, then again, everything was turning out to be news.

--- "I didn't—"

Alexis cut him off. It was not that she did not want to fill him in on her life, but she did not want to get so emotional over missing her sister, that her remorse overshadowed her need to know where he had been all of those years, and Sam's desire to finally know her father.

--- "You know what, I'll be fine. I think we need to get going to the lake house. Diane is passed out on Sam's bed, and I quite frankly can't trust that she isn't dead."

Mathieu frowned at the woman.

--- "Does she need a doctor?"

Sam scoffed.

--- "No, she needs an intervention."

Alexis smacked her daughter's arm.

--- "Sam, you're no better than she is—"

Sam crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

--- "Mom, are you REALLY going to talk to me about drinking? You? After—"

Alexis covered her Sam's mouth with her hand and smiled at Mathieu.

--- "Ha! Wow, this one has such an active imagination for someone who hopes to reach the age of thirty in a few months. It's astounding the things she comes up with when she doesn't think about what creeps in the night!"

Mathieu smiled at the women; he loved how playful, or at least he hoped that they were joking, they were with each other.

Sam attempted to move her mother's hand, but Alexis glared at her and kept a firm grip, willing her to say something about her night with Mac to Mathieu. Sam glared back at her mother and bit a small portion of her hand.

--- "Sh!t, Sam! Why'd you do that for?"

Mathieu laughed as Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Give them back."

Alexis looked at her hand seeing if Sam had pierced her skin.

--- "You know, you're twenty-nine years old. Perhaps biting people is something that you should have given up when you were like, four?"

Sam ignored her mother's comment.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis, having cleared her hand for any punctures, looked at her daughter. The look on Sam's face made her fully aware that she had realized her precious items were missing. She smiled innocently.

--- "Hmm?"

Sam walked up to her mother pointing an accusatory finger.

--- "I want my phone, money, and credit cards back. I know that you took them!"

Alexis raised her eyebrow to her daughter. She hated when she pointed her finger at her, so she grabbed it.

--- "Samantha—"

Mathieu continued to watch the interaction in silence; it was not his place to interfere.

--- "Stop with the finger pointing."

Sam attempted to yank her finger back, but Alexis kept a firm grip on it.

--- "Mom—"

--- "Sam—"

The women engaged in a battle of the wills as they glared at each other. Mathieu did not know what to do; he had never before had a daughter, and yet, considering that the one that he now had was an adult, he found it highly amusing that Alexis treated her as a teenager. He would have loved to raise this beautiful young woman along with Alexis; he was anxious to know everything about their life together.

--- "Er, excuse me, but shouldn't we get going?"

Alexis refused to break eye contact with her daughter.

--- "Mati, you will come to learn not to interrupt when I'm disciplining my daughter."

Sam agreed while maintaining the stare.

--- "Oh yes, in a minute, Mommy will be putting me over her knee."

--- "Sam, don't tempt me; you've put me through a lot of crap today, alone."

Sam continued to speak to her father, knowing that it was only an amount of time before she got Alexis to break eye contact.

--- "You see, Mathieu, my mother seems to think that she can control whatever I do, but she has clearly forgotten that—"

And as predicted, Alexis rolled her eyes, thereby losing the contest.

--- "Samantha, I already know that you're an adult, you NEVER let me forget it—"

--- "And yet you do! Now, Mom, give me my stuff back."

Sam held out her hand, but instead of returning her belongings, Alexis took her daughter's hand and smiled.

--- "Look, we're being rude to your father. I think we can have this conversation later. Besides, it's not as though you really need any of the things I allegedly—"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Allegedly, Mom?"

Alexis nodded her head innocently.

--- "I'm neither confirming nor denying that I have your belongings, sweetheart."

Mathieu let out a laugh as he waited by the door, causing the women to look at him. Sam smiled at her father.

--- "See! He knows you're full of crap! My daddy wouldn't lie to me!"

Mathieu's heart all but melted at the sound of Sam referring to him as her daddy, even if it were in jest. He smiled back at her before replying; he feared that his voice might crack.

--- "No, ma belle, I would never lie to you."

Sam nodded her head slowly before looking at her mother, who was herself smiling at her daughter. Alexis pulled Sam to her noticing that the young woman was close to tears; she knew that Sam would be embarrassed if the man saw her crying.

--- "Now, you know never to listen to anyone but your Mommy, Sam!"

Sam was grateful that through all of those years, Alexis had been able to read her like a book. It was true that she had tears in eyes, and certainly did not want the man she knew nothing about knowing that he had broken through her tough exterior. She hugged her mother, making sure to face away from Mathieu, so that she could quickly wipe away her runaway tears.

--- "I don't know about all that, Mom, but I forgive you, this once."

When she was sure that Sam had wiped away the evidence, Alexis kissed her daughter on the top of the head.

--- "Um, how about we get going?"

Mathieu nodded as he opened the door for the ladies.

--- "Yes, [ahem] I guess you're right. After you, les filles!"

Alexis smiled at the man; he was still as charming and courteous as he had ever been.

--- "Thank you."

He felt a well of tears threaten to come to his own eyes.

--- "[ahem] Anything for you."

When Alexis and Sam were ahead of him, he quickly pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped his eyes before they might notice his sensitivity.

* * *

Mac knew that he needed to step his game up if he had any chance of getting Alexis. He was at a high disadvantage considering that Mathieu had all but shown up out of nowhere, was clearly Alexis' greatest love, and would certainly get Sam's vote, being that he was her father. Sure he was have breakfast with the woman in the morning, but he was not getting his hopes up. His heart hurt at the thought that he had once again missed out on love.

As he lamented over his loss, his phone began to ring.

--- "Hello?"

--- "Hey Uncle Mac."

It was Robin.

--- "Hi honey, what's going on?"

Robin frowned at his calm demeanor; she had been certain that he would either be still angry over Maxie's set-up or over the moon about what they had done. This calmness was a bit disconcerting.

--- "Uncle Mac, are you alright?"

He sighed.

--- "Yea, I'm fine."

--- "No you're not. What happened? Did something go wrong tonight?"

Mac was shocked that Robin did not know; he had been sure that Maxie would have told half the town by that point.

--- "I take it that you haven't spoken to your cousin—"

Robin sat up in her chair; she was getting nervous.

--- "No! What in the world happened tonight?"

Mac recounted the evening's events to his niece. She was, to say the very least, shocked.

--- "Well, damn! I wish I hadn't had Patrick page me!"

Mac looked at the phone.

--- "Are you serious?! You didn't really have to get to the hospital?"

--- "God no! I just didn't want to be part of this debacle. Unfortunately for me, I chose the wrong day to not play matchmaker. Well, what are you going to do?"

--- "What do you mean, what am I going to do? I'm going to give Alexis some space. I mean, we're having breakfast tomorrow—"

--- "Breakfast?"

Mac blushed.

--- "Yea, well she says since we, you know—"

Robin was shocked.

--- "You two actually, really? I thought you didn't!"

--- "Robin, we didn't. Alexis thought that it was cute that since we woke up that way, then we should have breakfast."

--- "Um, okay? Well, I suggest that you make that breakfast memorable!"

* * *

The ride back to the lake house was silent; each person was absorbed in his or her own thoughts. By the time Alexis had pulled into the driveway, Sam had sneezed and coughed several times.

Alexis put her hand on her daughter's forehead.

--- "Honey, you feel warm."

Sam swatted her mother's hand.

--- "That's probably because you had the heat on hell's fury! Geez, talk about getting into the holiday mood, you were totally roasting chestnuts in here!"

Alexis swatted her daughter on the leg and hissed.

--- "Samantha! Um, maybe a tad bit inappropriate—"

She turned around to face Mathieu.

--- "Please ignore her. She can't help herself; she's currently suffering from a rare form of diarrhea."

Sam was appalled.

--- "Mom!"

Mathieu leaned forward, worried to hear that his daughter might be sick.

--- "Oh my goodness! Samantha, I'm a doctor. Do you need an examination—"

Sam reddened, much to Alexis' amusement.

--- "Um, no. I don't know how comfortable I would be with that. And I don't—"

Alexis interrupted her daughter; she was on the verge of a fit of laughter, but she kept it at bay.

--- "Mati, you don't understand—"

Mathieu quickly unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car to open the driver's side door for Alexis, before moving to the passenger side for his daughter. He helped her out of the car as though she were some delicate flower.

--- "Oh, ma belle, there's this horrible stomach virus going around—"

Sam rolled her eyes and looked to her mother for help; it was obvious that the man was overcompensating. Alexis smiled in amusement.

--- "Mati, listen to me—"

Sam sneezed once again, sending Mathieu into further fits of concern. He put his hand on her forehead just as her mother had done previously.

--- "Your mother is right, you are warm. If you're not comfortable with me examining you, I think we can take you to another doctor."

It was true that she was not feeling well, which led to grumpiness and impatience. She pulled away from the man.

--- "Okay, you know what, I'm fine! I don't need an examination, especially not by you, thank you very much. You may be my father, but I certainly don't know you from Adam, or maybe Pierre, or something, in your case. In addition, I DON'T have diarrhea, so a stool sample won't be necessary, not from me at least. Perhaps my mother might like an examination—"

Alexis blushed.

--- "SAMANTHA!"

Sam ignored her.

--- "Now, if you'll excuse me, I DO feel like crap, and Mom, if you say ANYTHING remotely close to 'I told you so,' I will murder you in your sleep, because remember, you've arranged for me to sleep with you tonight!"

Sam grabbed the house keys from her mother's hands, unlocked the door and stormed inside the house.

Mathieu was shocked at her outburst.

--- "Er, maybe I should go? I've clearly upset her."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, please stay. We have a lot to discuss. Plus, this is partially my fault. I was trying to joke and say that she had oral diarrhea."

Mathieu made a face.

--- "What? Oral diarrhea?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Sam says whatever comes to mind without thinking."

Mathieu followed Alexis into the house.

--- "Oui, ca c'est sur."

He definitely could not dispute this characterization about the woman he was very excited to get to know.

Alexis smiled.

--- "Look, I really am sorry about that. She's not normally like that. I should probably go check on her; she's clearly not feeling well, which is when she gets irritable. Make yourself at home. Do you want some tea or anything?"

--- "No thank you."

--- "Well, if you want to make yourself a drink, please, help yourself."

Mathieu, not hearing her last offer, looked around the house and the pictures of her family.

--- "You have a very beautiful home."

Alexis nodded before walking out of the living room.

--- "Thank you. I actually bought it because of Sam."

Before he could question her further, she was already out of the room. There was so much he wanted to know about his family.

* * *

Alexis walked into her bedroom to find Sam changing out of her clothes and into a pair of her sister's pajamas.

--- "Honey, what are you doing?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Care to knock?"

Alexis sat on her bed.

--- "In my own room? No. Why are you wearing Kristina's pajamas?"

Sam finished changing before getting into the other side of the bed.

--- "Sheer laziness and the fact that if I had gone to my room all the way on the other side of the house, and found Diane drooling all over my pillows, the only hard thing she would have had to comfort her through the night would've been the floor."

Alexis once again put her hand on Sam's forehead.

--- "You're warm. I really wish that you didn't go skinny dipping—"

Sam rolled over away from her mother.

--- "Mom, I'm not in the mood for this. That wasn't the first time that I'd done that. And certainly not the first time you've got me."

Alexis sighed before kicking her shoes off so that she could lie in her bed next to her daughter. She snuggled in close to Sam.

--- "You know, there was a time when I never thought we would ever be this close. You were angry at me for giving you up; I was angry at you for—"

Sam's ears reddened. Despite how close she and her mother had gotten, that was one mistake for which she would never forgive herself.

Alexis noticed her daughter tense up.

--- "Sweetheart, I've forgiven you. It's time for you to forgive yourself. I mean, you were basically a kid then; you have come so far."

Sam turned around to face her mother; she had tears in her eyes.

--- "I will never forgive myself, Mom."

Alexis wiped her daughter's face of the tears.

--- "Look, I can't tell you what to do—"

Sam was about to interject but Alexis pointed a finger at her.

--- "In this instance. I can't tell you what to do in this instance, BUT I will tell you this: honey, this can stay between you and me—"

--- "And the many people in this town."

Alexis sat up and played with her daughter's hair.

--- "Sweetheart, we've already had this discussion; you're not known as the girl who slept with her mother's husband anymore. You've made a life for yourself. No one in this town will say anything about it because quite frankly, it doesn't have anything to do with them. Plus, they see the relationship that we have, so it's not an issue for concern. Now, I don't want to talk to you about that."

Sam groaned.

--- "I'm sorry Mommy for embarrassing you in front of Daddy."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Sam, I'm serious. What in the world was that about? And before you tell me its because you aren't feeling well, I know it's more than that. He was about to leave! I thought you wanted to get to know him?"

Sam sat up despite her oncoming headache.

--- "Mom, I do, but I don't know. I guess I'm just weary. I mean, for someone who was so concerned about thinking I had diarrhea, thanks by the way, I mean that wasn't remotely embarrassing—"

Alexis shrugged.

--- "I'm really sorry about that! I don't think he's been living in this country; it seems as though our sarcasm is more than he can handle."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Please, Mom, it was just as obvious to you as it was to me, that he was just overcompensating for the fact that he feels guilty because he didn't want me back then. I want to get to know him, I really do, but I got this fight or flight reaction when her seemed to be getting too close. I mean, when we were in the interrogation room together, we had a decent conversation—"

Alexis smiled; she was curious as to what the two had discussed.

--- "That's good! I'm glad to hear that!"

Sam began playing with the throw pillow on her mother's bed.

--- "I don't know. I just don't know what to think of him until I find out what happened."

Alexis brushed her daughter's hair from her face.

--- "Well, I'll tell you what I know."

_**Flashback**_

_They had hidden the pregnancy for the past six months from the school administration and her teachers; no one had been the wiser. Luckily, Alexis was not the most outspoken person, at the time, and she certainly was not popular, so no one noticed her. _

_Mathieu continued to sneak into her room for a few hours every night, if not for anything but to be with her, and to kiss his baby good night._

_--- "Mati, I'm getting worried."_

_He continued to hold Alexis in his arms._

_--- "Alexandra, don't worry! I'm telling you, it will all be fine. Look, next month we're going to leave for Canada next week; I've already got the passports."_

_Alexis kissed his chest._

_--- "Make love to me?"_

_He felt her tears on his chest. He pushed her face up and kissed her gently on the lips._

_--- "You don't have to be sad anymore, Cherie. You're all I need. You and little—"_

_He put his hands back on her stomach._

_--- "What are we going to name this baby?"_

_She looked at him and smiled._

_--- "Well, you always told me how much you admired your grandfather? What was his name again?"_

_He passed his finger down the center of her chest and traced the line of her collarbone, before kissing her._

_--- "Samuel? You want to name the baby Samuel? And if she's a girl?"_

_She took his face into her hands._

_--- "Samantha?"_

_The moment the name left her mouth, the baby kicked. He smiled widely at Alexis before passionately kissing her._

_--- "I think that's beautiful."_

_He gently moved to her belly and kissed it._

_--- "I think you're our Samantha."_

_The baby kicked once again, this time where his mouth had connected to her mother's belly. Mother and father laughed together before making gentle love._

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox_

_The day had come for them to leave for Canada. As planned, they were to meet at their spot under the bridge, but when Alexis arrived, instead of finding Mathieu, standing before her was Mikkos._

_--- "Cousin? What are you doing here?"_

_He looked at her with disappointment evident in his eyes._

_--- "I suppose I should be asking you the same thing, Alexis. And I see that you have a bag packed."_

_Her face burned in shame at having been caught._

_--- "I was—"_

_He did not let her finish._

_--- "I know what you were doing. You were leaving."_

_She nodded her head and whispered._

_--- "Yes."_

_He reached into his coat jacket and handed her a letter._

_--- "Well, that boy who got you in this condition, sent me this letter. I suppose he couldn't handle… this."_

_Mikkos shook his head as he handed the letter to her. Her mouth hung open as she took and read the letter._

"_**Dear Sir,**_

_**It is with the deepest regret, and respect, that I inform you that I have gotten Alexandra pregnant. While I had every intention of marrying her and taking care of my child, I'm afraid that I can't allow such an error in judge ruin the future that my family expects of me. I'm sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused you, your family, and Alexandra. I love her so much, but I am just not ready for this step.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Mathieu LeGros"**_

_Alexis read and reread the letter. She could not believe that Mati had betrayed her in such a way. She shook her head._

_--- "I don't believe you."_

_Mikkos shrugged his shoulders._

_--- "You don't have to believe me, Alexis. He's made himself quite clear. Now, I will make myself clear to you. You cannot keep this child. You're a mere child yourself, and there is no way you can care for this baby. Now, I'm glad your bags are packed because you will be spending the remainder of the semester in private tutoring until you have this child and we find her a suitable home."_

_Alexis was at a loss for words. She simply collapsed on the cold ground in tears._

_**End of Flashback**_.

Alexis wiped the tears from her face as she looked at her daughter who was also in tears.

--- "And that was the last time that I had heard from Mathieu. When I finally gave birth to you, and they took you from my arms, I wished him dead, honey; I truly and honestly wished him nothing but misery. Then a few years later, I was told that he had in fact died."

Sam sat up in the bed feeling dejected.

--- "God Mom, this is worse than I had thought. I can't even imagine how upset you were. You were betrayed by the love of your life—"

Alexis scooted over and wrapped her arm around her daughter.

--- "That was nothing compared to having lost you."

* * *

Mathieu walked about the living room waiting for Alexis to come back out. There was so much they needed to talk about. He had so many questions that needed answered.

* * *

**Okay! Back to the studying I go! T- 21 hours until exam three! Now, make me happy and review as much, if not sooo much more than you did the last chapter! **

**Wednesday is around the corner!!!**

**12/14/09- JaSammers, I had an "epiphany," of sorts last night. Expect his appearance if not next chapter, but def 19. So, Review and I might make him DEF come (ahem) in 18. :o)**


	18. Waiting and Wanting

Hey! I'm awake in the middle of the night… You shocked? I've an exam left (I'm not in the least bit worried about it), for which I've studied, and will continue to study for in the morning, afternoon, and evening. For now, here is the second part to the previous chapter.

While I'm HIGHLY disappointed with the lack of reviews for the last chapter, I couldn't sleep so I took a couple of hours to write this.

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Waiting and Wanting**

Sam shook her head and moved from her mother's arms; she got out of the bed and headed toward the door. Alexis was terrified of what she might do.

--- "Sam! Where are you going?"

The woman was hurt and angry all at once.

--- "Mom, I want to know what that son of a bitch has to say about all of this! God! He not only ruined your life, but he ruined mine!"

Alexis got up and grabbed her daughter by the arm.

--- "Uh, no you don't—"

Sam made a face.

--- "Are you kidding me right now? I have a right to know—"

Alexis put her hand up to interrupt her daughter.

--- "I know you do, but Sam, you're not going to get the information storming into the living room like some kind of Powerpuff Girl—"

--- "Powerpuff—"

Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "You know what I mean. I know that he totally screwed us—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "No, Mom, he screwed you. He simply tossed me away."

The older woman sighed before leading her daughter back to the bed.

--- "Okay, you know what, he's still your father, and whatever may have happened between us when I got pregnant with you happened when we were kids. I think we can afford to give him the benefit of the doubt."

Sam got into the bed knowing that there was no arguing with her mother over the matter.

--- "You know what, I'm beginning to think that you might be this forgiving because you just want him to pump your gas."

Alexis' mouth fell open.

--- "Excuse me?"

Sam sneezed and coughed a few times before repeating what she had just said.

--- "Mom, I'm sure you're pretty tired of going to the self pump; you've paid your dues, you deserve full service. I'll accept that, but I hope that the attendant doesn't plan on filling your tank with subpar gas."

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose.

--- "I'm not even going to justify anything that you've just said. I'm going to leave it to the assumption that because you're sick, that you would ever think that I'd let some repairman I don't even know anymore, tinker with my parts, just because I might be in need of a tune-up."

Sam groaned in disgust.

--- "Seriously? I didn't need to know all of that, Mom!"

Alexis laughed.

--- "You're the one who started brining up the garage and gas station metaphors. Anyway, you're not going out there, and that's final."

Sam shook her head in annoyance.

--- "I swear, I don't know why the hell I let you treat me as though I'm some kid—"

--- "Because you're my kid. I don't care how old you are, Sam; I'm still the Mom. Now, you can either go to sleep, or wait for me to come back, and I'll tell you what I know."

--- "Well, can I have my cell back?"

Alexis looked around the room.

--- "Um, my purse is in the living room, but nothing is stopping you from calling that wall you call a boyfriend, on the house phone."

She leaned down and gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "I know you want to know what happened, but leave it to me, honey."

--- "And what are you going to do if you find out that he's back for his own self-serving interests?"

Alexis, as she walked her closet to hang up her suit jacket, thought her daughter's question over for a moment, before responding.

--- "Um, I guess they'll be nothing else to do but feed the dog his own bone."

Sam shook her head and laughed at her mother.

--- "Well, I guess you might want to get out there and see if the dog wants to go for a stroll down memory lane."

Alexis smiled at her daughter.

--- "I guess you're right."

She turned and walked out of the room toward the living room not knowing what to expect from this long awaited conversation with the man she believed dead for all of those years.

When she entered the living room, she found him staring at the family pictures throughout the room.

--- "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long."

He turned around and smiled at her.

--- "Well, I guess when you've waited twenty-nine years, a few minutes doesn't matter. How is Samantha?"

Alexis walked to the refreshment table and poured herself a glass of water.

--- "She's fine. What do you mean you've waited for twenty-nine years? You left me. You completely abandoned me, Mathieu."

She suddenly felt a surge of anger fill her as she thought about the repercussions of his actions on her life feeling guilty over giving up her child, and over the life that her eldest daughter had to endure because of his selfishness. She turned around to face him. He looked puzzled.

--- "Alexandra, I've never stopped loving you—"

She scoffed at his response.

--- "Are you kidding me, Mathieu? Are you seriously joking right now?"

He walked over to her and put the glass in her hand down on the table.

--- "Alexandra, I have been waiting for you for twenty-nine years—"

Alexis shook her head and smacked him across the face.

--- "At the expense of our daughter?!"

He held his face shocked that the woman hit him.

--- "I would NEVER hurt Samantha! I don't know why you're so angry; it's you who has kept her from me all of those years—"

Alexis was taken aback.

--- "ME?! How in the world did you come up with something like that?"

He nodded his head and pointed and accusatory finger at the woman. He never would think to disrespect a woman, but he was not feeling his blood boil.

--- "I wanted more than anything in the world to raise that child—"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea, so much so that you wrote a letter to my father telling him that you couldn't be bothered getting stuck being a young father; you had your family responsibilities to think about. You had your damned family expectations!"

He shook his head in confusion.

--- "I don't know what you're talking about—"

Alexis glared at him before walking out of the room toward her bedroom; Mathieu knew better than to follow her there. Alexis stormed into the room, much to Sam's shock.

--- "Mom, what's going on?"

She ignored her daughter and walked into her closet. Sam jumped out of the bed and followed.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Sam, I thought I told you to stay in bed?"

Sam frowned at her mother's dismissive attitude as she watched her pull a box from the top of her closet.

--- "Um, you're not going to kill him are you?"

Alexis shot her daughter a look before taking the box and walking toward her. She put her hand on her daughter's back and led her out of the closet and back into the bed.

--- "Sam, just talk to robo-man; I'll talk to you about this later."

Sam sighed and got back into the bed; she watched perplexingly as her mother walked out of the room.

Alexis returned to the living room with the box in her hands. She walked to the couch, sat down, and placed the box onto the coffee table.

--- "Open it."

Mathieu remained in his spot. She looked up at him with fury in her eyes. She wanted terribly to scream at the man, but she also did not want to wake up the whole house.

--- "I said open it."

He was shocked by the sound of her voice; it was an icy cold he had never before heard from the timid young girl he had once known. He nodded his head and walked to the coffee table. He took the box and opened it.

--- "What is this?"

She noticed the first item he picked out; it was the lock of hair she had been given after Sam was taken from her mere minutes after she was born.

--- "That's Sam's lock of hair."

He moved to the couch and sat down beside Alexis. He smiled as he held the soft piece of hair in his hands tied by a yellow ribbon.

--- "Why are you—"

She shook her head.

--- "There's more in the box, Mathieu."

He looked at her for a moment before replacing the hair in the box and taking out a yellowed envelope. He glanced at Alexis, knowing that the envelope was exactly what she had meant for him to see. He opened it and pulled out a letter and read it. After he was done, he covered his mouth in shock.

--- "I don't know what this is."

Alexis laughed mockingly.

--- "You don't know what that is? That is the letter you sent to my father—"

He shook his head in disbelief.

--- "This is what I'm telling you, Alexandra, I never sent a letter to your father! God, I thought your father was dead?"

She frowned at him.

--- "That doesn't matter. What are you talking about that you never sent a letter to Mikkos?"

He stared at the words written on the letter; it looked like the handwriting of his youth, but he certainly did not write such a letter.

--- "I didn't write this—"

--- "That's your handwriting, Mathieu! I recognized it!"

He put the letter back in the box and grabbed her hands.

--- "Alexandra, I would have never written a letter like that! I wanted to be with you! I wanted to raise our daughter together! Why would I have ever done something like that?"

She pulled her hands back.

--- "If you didn't write the letter, who did?"

He thought about it for a moment before looking at the woman standing in front of the fireplace with her arms crossed glaring at him.

--- "The same person who wrote the letter to me months prior telling me that I would be better off without you."

Alexis felt a tear roll down her face at the realization that once again, Helena had managed to find a way to ruin her life. Despite everything that she had ever done to her, this had to have been by far the worst.

--- "Helena? How? God, why do I even ask 'how;' there are a lot of things that she's done in the past that have been far more incomprehensible that this."

He stood up and paced the room.

--- "I know you told me not to, but I wrote a letter to you when we were on holiday—"

--- "During summer break?"

He nodded his head.

--- "Yes. Cherie, I could not help but write something to you and tell you how much I loved you—"

It all began to make sense to her.

--- "And that's how she found out about us? That's why she sent the letter to you about not being with me? Why didn't you tell me that that was the reason? I would've known then that she was watching us."

He walked up to her. He put his hand on her face; he felt the softness in her skin.

--- "I didn't want to worry you."

She closed her eyes to his touch; she was beginning to feel like that teenage girl she once was. And then she remembered her daughter waiting for her to tell her why it was that she was made to live a life as a con and thief for nineteen years of her life. Alexis pulled away.

--- "If you didn't write the letter, what happened to you? Why didn't you meet me? Why did you let Mikkos take me?"

She was now fighting the tears from escaping her eyes. Mathieu began walking about the room, before stopping in front of a picture of Sam and Alexis; he would not have known it, but the picture was ten years old, and taken after Sam had slept with Ric, and before Alexis was due to go into the hospital for surgery to remove a piece of her lung. He stared at the picture.

--- "You two look uncomfortable."

Alexis softened and walked up to him to look at the picture.

--- "That's because we were. We had just found out that we were mother and daughter—"

He nearly dropped the picture.

--- "What?"

Alexis frowned at him before repeating what she had just said.

--- "We had just found out that we were mother and daughter."

He placed the picture on console table. He rubbed his eyebrows together.

--- "You didn't raise her?"

Alexis took another piece of paper out of the box and handed it to him.

--- "Mathieu, when I got that letter from you… [ahem] or at least I thought it was from you, my father took me away from the school, had me tutored privately, and then made me give her up."

--- "She told me that things were weird for you in the beginning, but now you get a long fine. I didn't understand what she meant; I figured I would ask you about it. I had no idea—"

He read over the papers; they were a papers relinquishing Alexis of parental rights to the baby.

--- "But her name—"

She wiped her face from the tears that had fallen.

--- "Well, that was the only thing my father allowed. I begged him that if he was going to make me give her up, that I should be able to name my child. I told him that I was to be kept from her, that I should at least be able to know her name."

He too had tears rolling down his face.

--- "So you kept the name Samantha."

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Despite my hatred for you at the time, Mati, that child was borne from love. She had her name before she was born, and I wanted her to have it. Right now, there's nothing that can be done about all of that, I just want to know what happened to you."

_**Flashback**_

_Mathieu was quickly moving about his dorm room packing his things when the headmaster walked in._

_--- "Mr. LeGros, going someplace?"_

_Mathieu stopped what he was doing, shocked that he had been caught red-handed. He turned around to see not only his headmaster, but his parents and a man he did not recognize standing in the room._

_--- "Maman? Papa?"_

_His father spoke to the headmaster._

_--- "You may leave. Thank you."_

_Mathieu glanced at the clock on the wall; the time was approaching quickly for him to meet Alexis, and now it seemed as though the likelihood of such an encounter happening was slim._

_--- "What—"_

_His mother quickly walked up to him and smacked him across the face, and began to scold him in French._

_--- "I can't believe you got that girl pregnant!"_

_He was shocked that they had known; there was no sense in denying it._

_--- "I'm going to marry her."_

_His father stepped up to him._

_--- "The hell you will! You will have nothing to do with her."_

_The young man was shocked by his father's words._

_--- "What do you mean? I love her! She's carrying my child!"_

_The man who had walked into the room with his parent spoke up._

_--- "That maybe so, but she is a minor, Mathieu. You've raped her."_

_Mathieu was shocked; he screamed at the man._

_--- "I would NEVER hurt Alexandra! I LOVE HER!"_

_The man flinched at the rage in the boy's voice. _

_--- "You are 18 now—"_

_--- "So what!"_

_--- "Alexis is 16. She is not old enough to consent to having sex with you. And if she's not old enough to have sex with you, young man, she's clearly not old enough to marry you."_

_Mathieu stared at the man._

_--- "What are you saying?"_

_Mathieu's parents stared at the young man in disappointment and disapproval. The man cleared his throat._

_--- "You have two choices. You can go to jail for rape—"_

_Had his father not caught him, Mathieu would have attacked the man._

_--- "I already told you that I did not rape her! Alexandra is my girlfriend! I love her!"_

_The man shook his head._

_--- "Your second option is to leave with your parents now, and never return."_

_Mathieu began to cry. He felt like a fool for doing so, but his heart hurt at the thought of losing Alexis and his child._

_--- "And what about Alexandra? What about my baby?"_

_The man sighed._

_--- "She will raise the child. She will send you updates."_

_Mathieu wanted to punch a wall._

_--- "That's it? Updates?"_

_--- "And pictures—"_

_--- "I don't want pictures and updates—"_

_Mathieu's father stepped forward._

_--- "You don't have a choice. We're leaving. Mr. Cassadine, you may leave."_

_Mikkos nodded his head and left leaving Mathieu with his family. He now had to deal with his own family._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Alexis shook her head.

--- "That bastard. He told me that you died a few years after I gave Sam up!"

Mathieu stared at the paper in his hand.

--- "I thought all this time that you had raised our daughter and that you've kept her from me."

Alexis wiped her eyes.

--- "And yet you never tried to look for me?"

He looked at her.

--- "I did! For a long time, I did! And then I realized that it would not be fair to Samantha if I interfered with her life. I figured that you had your own lives. I didn't want to disrupt it. I thought that you didn't want me in your life, and I wanted to respect your decision. I hated it, and I was angry… I am angry, but I suppose now it's pointless."

She nodded her head.

--- "You're right; it looks like the Cassadines struck again. I can't believe this."

He walked up to her. He took her face into his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

--- "No matter how angry I was with you Alexandra, I never stopped loving you; I can't say this enough. I love you. I love Samantha. I want you both."

He kissed passionately; she kissed him back. Afterwards, he pressed his forehead to hers.

--- "I don't know what's going on with you and Big Mac—"

She laughed through her tears, as her heart was filled with conflicted emotions.

--- "I don't know why you keep calling him Big Mac, but Mati, it's a bit weird."

He kissed her again.

--- "Alexandra, I will fight for you. I will fight for the love we once had."

She pulled away from him.

--- "I don't know."

He did not want to push her into realizing that they were meant to be. He had no problems working toward reclaiming her heart.

--- "It's okay."

He looked at his watch; it was two o'clock in the morning.

--- "I should probably go."

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "I'm sorry, Mati."

He passed his hand along her cheek again.

--- "There is nothing to be sorry for, Cherie."

He put his coat on and walked toward the door before making a realization.

--- "I don't have a car."

Alexis smacked herself in the forehead.

--- "I completely forgot. Um, I'll drive you—"

He shook his head.

--- "No. It's late, and I'm sure you're tired. I'll take a taxi—"

She laughed at him.

--- "Mati, its 2 a.m. in upstate New York. There are no cabs running at this time. If you insist that I not drive you; I insist that you stay."

His heart leapt… in his pants… although he knew that he would undoubtedly be spending the night on her couch.

--- "I don't want to impose."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "You know what, I think it's a good thing. Our daughter is sick; she might need a doctor."

He smiled at the sound of her calling Sam their daughter.

--- "Okay. I'll stay."

--- "Good. I'll be right back."

She went into her room to find Sam sound asleep. She went into her closet and grabbed an extra pillow and blanket and carried them back into the living room.

--- "Here you go."

He smiled at another picture of Sam and Alexis; this one appeared more recent. Alexis stood behind him.

--- "That was from this non-wedding we went to a few days ago."

He traced his daughter's face with his finger.

--- "We made a beautiful child together."

She nodded her head in agreement as she handed him the pillow and blanket.

--- "Yes we did."

--- "Merci Cherie."

He kissed her on both cheeks.

--- "You're welcome Mati. Well, good night."

--- "Good night, mon amour."

He watched her as she walked out of the room. He put the pillow and blanket on the couch and looked at the lock of hair in the box; he was determined to have what was stolen from him.

Alexis walked back into her bedroom emotionally drained by the information that had just been revealed. She cursed her father's name as she stood at the door staring at her sleeping daughter, while thinking of the man making himself comfortable on her couch. She could not believe the life that was stolen from her, and the life that was forced upon her beautiful child. She walked into her closet, and changed into her pajamas before getting into bed.

She crawled into bed, hopeful not to wake her daughter. She felt her forehead; she was still warm.

--- "Oh honey, I wish you would stop doing crazy things like skinny dipping in the winter."

Sam opened her eyes and looked at her mother; it was evident that she had been crying.

--- "I guess he wanted me after all."

Alexis was shocked. She had no idea that Sam had been eavesdropping. She snuggled close with her daughter, passing her hand through her hair.

--- "You were always wanted."

Sam turned into her mother.

--- "Where is he?"

Alexis looked at her.

--- "Asleep on the couch."

Sam smiled and laughed. She began to laugh harder. Alexis was confused.

--- "What's the matter, crazy?"

Sam laid grabbed her pillow and balled it up underneath her head and smiled at her mother.

--- "Well, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do in the morning."

She rolled over and fell right asleep.

Alexis took her pillow and muffled a scream. She looked at her daughter for a few minutes, amazed at the chain of events that lead them to where they were that day. She sat up and gave her a hard swat on the behind causing her to jump up from her sleep. She rubbed her stung bottom.

--- "What the hell, Mom!"

Alexis pointed a finger at her daughter.

--- "I told you that you were due for a spanking! That's for the hell you've put me through all day and for the hell I'm clearly going to go through in the morning!"

Sam rolled her eyes, smacked her mother with her pillow, and rolled back over.

--- "I swear Mom, if there's a bruise tomorrow morning, I'm totally calling Department of Children and Family Services on you!"

Alexis laughed and kissed her daughter on the back of the head before turning out her lamp.

--- "Whatever. I love you, honey."

Sam rolled back over and wrapped her arms around her mother.

--- "I love you, too, Mom. Thanks for wanting me."

_******************_

**Now, will you PLEASE review?**

**JaSammers, your wish is my command… I had an epiphany. Review and you shall be rewarded in the next chapter.**


	19. Interrupted and Bruised

Ah, the sweet smell of freedom! I'm back and hopefully in full force. I'm terribly sorry for taking longer than anticipated in getting this to you; the return to life has been welcoming!

**MANY THANKS, more than I can muster to the Demon! What a gem!**

UNEDITED FILLER. I'll look it over tomorrow afternoon.

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Interrupted and Bruised**

Mathieu tossed and turned all night as he thought about the life he had been deprived of with Alexis and Samantha. He knew that there was nothing to be done about those stolen moments, but he vowed to himself that he would establish new memories with his family. He did not care what anyone, particularly Mac, said; Alexis and Sam were his family.

When he had finally fallen asleep it seemed as though a second later he was being awoken from that slumber.

--- "Hello there."

He uncovered his face of the pillow to see two pretty young girls staring at him.

--- "Er, good morning."

Kristina raised her eyebrow to the man.

--- "It seems that way."

Molly and Mathieu frowned at the teen.

--- "I'm sorry?"

As he moved to stand up, Kristina cleared her throat and looked downward. He reddened and placed the pillow that had been on his face onto his lower half; he was wearing his boxers, but alas, it was in fact the morning and he had just woken up…

--- "Pardon."

Molly, while she continued to be confused as to what was going on, wanted to know whom this strange man on her mother's couch was; she was intrigued by his French accent.

--- "You're French?"

He reached for his pants that were neatly placed on the adjacent chair; Kristina handed them to him.

--- "Yes. You're Molly, non? And you—merci—are Kristina?"

Both girls nodded.

--- "And you are?"

He held onto the pants for dear life.

--- "Mathieu. Er, do you mind turning around?"

Kristina took Molly by the shoulders and turned her around as he himself turned to pull his pants over his boxers. In that moment, Diane staggered into the living room.

--- "Well hello there, Woody Woodpecker. Where were you when I needed you?"

Mathieu was further horrified.

--- "Oh Mon Dieu."

Diane walked up to him with her hand outstretched.

--- "Diane Miller. And you sir, would be?"

His ears burned.

--- "Mathieu LeGros."

Diane pursed her lips as she looked him up and down.

--- "Well, clearly."

She turned to the girls.

--- "Hello my little muffins, would you be so kind as to get your Aunt Diane a couple of coffee?"

Kristina looked at Diane.

--- "You look like crap. Did you stay here all night?"

It was true, Diane's hair was all over the place, and her clothes were disheveled.

--- "And that's why I adore you so, Kristina, but I think I very much prefer your sister."

Molly smiled.

--- "Me?"

Diane tapped the girl on the nose.

--- "No, not you. Sam—"

Kristina interrupted the woman.

--- "Sam's here?"

Diane shrugged.

--- "I have no idea. All I know is that I woke up in her bed… alone."

Kristina made a face before pulling Molly out of the room; there was no sense in attempting to get any information from the mystery man with Diane there hung over. They would certainly go to the source.

Diane called after them.

--- "I still need my coffee!"

Mathieu looked at the woman.

--- "I'm sorry about that. I did not realize there were so many people in this house."

She gave him the once over before trying to remember what it was that Alexis had told her about him.

--- "Um, you're Sam's father, right?"

His face lit up.

--- "Yes. And you're Alexandra's friend."

She nodded her head.

--- "That would be me, her very best friend and confidante. The only person who could beat her in the courtroom."

He sat down to put his shoes on.

--- "So she's good at what she does? I'm not surprised; she might have been quiet when I knew her, but she was always competitive and bright."

She sat at the dining room table; she leaned her heavy head on her hand.

--- "Alexis is one of the best attorneys around, aside from me of course. So, um, where have you been all these years? What are you doing on the couch and not in her bed?"

Mathieu rubbed the side of his face; he needed to shave.

--- "Er—"

She laughed.

--- "Oh, don't worry! I'm just joking."

He let out a sigh of relief.

--- "Good, I did not know what to say! I mean I would like to—"

Diane put her hand up.

--- "Well, you should go after what you want! You were her childhood love—"

--- "Her first love. She was mine. She and I had something special, but it was stolen from us. I want it back."

Diane put her hand to her chest.

--- "That is the sweetest thing that I have ever heard! But, I want you to remember something—"

He planned on taking all the advice he could get about getting Alexis back. Since Diane was her best friend and knew her well, he was, of course, going to pay attention.

--- "I'm listening."

--- "Alexis is not the same naïve child that you knew in Maine who was controlled by her father; she's a grown and independent woman. I mean, she's not against flambéing her own meat—"

Mathieu's interests peaked.

--- "Alexandra can cook?"

Diane scrunched up her face in disgust.

--- "GOD NO! And if ever she brings you into her kitchen, make sure that its not food that's cooking!"

Mathieu laughed; he found this woman terribly interesting. He was happy that Alexis had found a friend like her, rather than remaining a loner, as she was when he had known her, or sticking with that man.

--- "Ok, I will take that into consideration. What else can you tell me?"

She thought for a moment.

--- "Let's see… she has a mind of her own and is not afraid to let you know about it. She's sensitive, but tough at the same time; I think you'll see that when you see her with her girls, including Sam—"

He nodded his head.

--- "How is her relationship with Samantha?"

Diane laughed to herself. While she was not in town when Sam and Alexis first discovered their relationship, she knew their history well. It never ceased to amaze her how close they were despite the pains they had inflicted upon one another.

--- "Those two are a handful. Alexis treats Sam as she had raised her from birth, meaning that that young woman does not get away with anything."

--- "I noticed!"

--- "Yes, well, Sam might complain about it, and be quite rebellious and let her mother know that she's an adult, in the end, I truly believe that she loves it because she did not grow up with people who loved her enough to care about what she did."

Mathieu's heart broke at the thought that his daughter was mistreated. He walked around the room and looked at the pictures he had stared at for half the night.

--- "Samantha was not sent to a loving home?"

Diane did not feel as though it were her place to tell this kind man about Sam's past.

--- "I think you should probably speak to your daughter or Lex about that. But, nonetheless, those two love each other. Regardless of any bad blood, and even though they have their moments of disagreement, one being Jason, there is no denying that either one would lay down her life for the other."

Mathieu looked at the picture of Sam and Alexis from years prior, and compared it to the more recent picture from the non-wedding Alexis had told him about; despite any pain that Sam may have had growing up, he was happy that his daughter had found her mother and they were happy.

--- "Thank you Madame Miller—"

She waved her hand.

--- "Please, call me Diane! As marvelous as Madame Miller sounds, there is only one man in my life… you know what, forget it. Yes, Diane is fine."

Mathieu nodded his head.

--- "Thank you, Diane."

--- "No problem! I would do anything to help my BFF."

Mathieu smiled at the woman.

--- "Can you help me once again? Where is the bathroom? I would like to clean up before—"

She pursed her lips once more.

--- "Before the love of your life wakes up and sees you?"

He smirked.

--- "I suppose you could say that."

She smiled at him.

--- "Well, I'll take you to Sam's bathroom; I'm sure you'll have more privacy."

--- "Does Samantha live here?"

Diane shook her head and led him out of the living room.

--- "Nope, but Alexis has a tendency to kidnap her kids—"

--- "And pickpocket them as well."

The woman stopped in her spot.

--- "ALEXIS pickpocketed SAM? Well, that's something I'd have to see with my own eyes. Usually, it's the other way around. But, I'll accept that."

Mathieu frowned a bit, but laughed at the relationship his daughter seemed to have with her mother. He could not wait to reconnect with Alexis and reignite the flame of their youth.

* * *

Without bothering to knock, Kristina and Molly walked into their mother's room. Because Alexis was a light sleeper, she immediately awoke to the sound of her two interlopers entering. She looked over at the clock and noticed that it was seven in the morning.

--- "Why aren't you two still in bed? It's Saturday."

Kristina, sat on the edge of the her mother's bed, while Molly, unconcerned with the fact that her eldest sister was still fast asleep climbed in with her mother; luckily for her, Sam slept like a rock.

--- "Good morning, Mommy."

She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before making herself comfortable, sitting Indian styled between Alexis and Sam.

--- "Morning, baby. How are you feeling?"

--- "I'm okay. I just need to go to the bookstore later today."

Alexis rolled over to look at her daughter.

--- "Okay, I'll take you later."

Kristina gave her mother an impatient look.

--- "Are we going to continue this small talk, Mom, or are you going to tell us who the French guy is on the couch? And why Diane spent the night? Or why Sam is still here, and dressed in my pajamas, I might add."

Sam stirred in her sleep. Alexis had hoped that she could have woken up before her girls that morning and gotten Mathieu out of the house.

--- "Um, good morning to you as well, Kristina."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Sorry. Good morning, Mom."

Alexis stretched and got out of the bed, and walked to Sam's side; she put her hand on her forehead.

--- "Hmm, good. Her fever is gone."

Molly ran her hand through her sister's hair.

--- "Was she sick?"

--- "Yes. Your sister decided that she wanted to go skinny dipping—"

Kristina shook her head.

--- "In thirty degree weather? Something must have been bothering her."

Alexis nodded her head before going into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

--- "You can say that [ahem]."

Kristina got up from the bed and followed her mother into the bathroom. She leaned against the doorframe as her mother put toothpaste on her toothbrush.

--- "Mom, what aren't you telling us?"

Alexis turned to face her daughter.

--- "Why do you presume that I'm not telling you something?"

She began to brush her teeth in order to give herself more time to think about what it was she wanted to say. Kristina knew her mother was stalling, so she went to wake her sister instead. She walked back into the room and shook Sam awake.

--- "Good morning big sister! It's time to rise and shine and talk to your little adoring sisters."

Sam groaned in displeasure at her sister waking her up.

--- "Ugh, seriously? Krissy, you're worse than an alarm clock. What do you want?"

Kristina smiled at her sister.

--- "Well, it seems as though you were a thief in the night; you stole my pajamas."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Is that why you're waking me up? Because you want your pajamas back? Well, I've got news for you, I'm going to need to steal a few more things from you, because I don't have any clothes here, since SOMEBODY wouldn't let me go home last night."

Alexis popped her head out of the bathroom. She took the toothbrush out of her mouth.

--- "Honey, you were sick."

--- "Yea, THAT was the reason you kept me here."

Kristina cleared her throat and signaled to Molly to get their sister's attention back to the cause at hand. Molly smiled, leaned in and gave Sam a hug.

--- "Hey Sam."

She returned her sister's hug.

--- "Hey Mol."

Kristina poked her sister's arm.

--- "Um, so what happened yesterday? We didn't see you or Mom since the morning, and when we got home, both of you were out."

Sam rolled onto her side and rubbed her eyes.

--- "We went to the spa. I got Mom to get her grass mowed—"

Molly made a face.

--- "What?"

Kristina waved her hand knowing what Sam had meant.

--- "It's nothing Mol; Sam's just making a joke."

Sam smiled.

--- "Yup. Anyway, Maxie and I set Mom up on a date with Mac."

Kristina and Molly were shocked that their older sister would do such a thing.

--- "Really?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "I'm serious. Well, it sort of backfired for us because they acted as though they didn't really want to be set-up, but it was pretty obvious from the non-wedding that they like each other. And then the next—"

Alexis walked out of the bathroom freshly showered and in her robe. She heard the tail-end of the conversation, and knew that her eldest daughter was talking about her night with Mac. It was bad enough that Sam knew about that incident; she did not need her telling Kristina and Molly.

--- "Sam, honey, didn't you have a phone call to make?"

She frowned at her mother.

--- "What?"

Alexis fixed her eyes onto her daughter.

--- "You know, to Department of Children and Family Services."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "I sure will—"

Alexis continued to stare at her daughter.

--- "Oh wait, you need to see if you've got a bruise first."

Sam smiled sweetly at her mother.

--- "No, I'm pretty sure I'm fine, thank you."

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter before going into the closet to quickly change.

Molly looked puzzled.

--- "Why would Sam have a bruise?"

Kristina shook her head.

--- "Um, the better question is why she would need to call DCFS. Aren't they supposed to help kids who were being abused by their parents?"

Sam's face turned red.

--- "It was nothing."

Alexis stuck her head out of the closet.

--- "Oh honey, come one, you shouldn't be embarrassed to tell your sisters!"

Molly and Kristina were fascinated by their sister's embarrassment.

--- "Seriously, what happened?"

Sam glared at her mother. She decided that she would beat her at her own game; she smiled coyly and looked at her sisters.

--- "Um, did you guys know that the morning after the non-wedding, Mom realized that her juicer still worked?"

Molly stuck out her lower lip.

--- "What?"

Alexis walked out of the closet dressed in a stylish long sweater, tights, and boots.

--- "Sam, I'm beginning to think it's a very good thing that there's a doctor in the house."

Kristina was intrigued.

--- "Okay, so that guy is a doctor? Now, who—"

Molly cut her sister off.

--- "No, wait, I want to know what happened to Sam!"

If looks could have killed, Molly would have been dead; Alexis had provided them with the greatest opening of finding out who the man was, but Molly slammed the door shut. Kristina hissed at her sister.

--- "Real smart Molly."

The littlest Davis shrugged.

--- "What? This is important!"

Kristina shook her head and moved to allow her mother to sit on the edge of the bed beside her sister, as she climbed onto the bed and sat beside Molly. Kristina sighed.

--- "Okay, what in the world happened, and why are you two talking in code?"

Alexis laughed as she sat beside her eldest daughter. She patted her on the back.

--- "Oh gummy bear, I think it's about time you tried to sit, you know, to make sure that you're still able to."

Sam shook her head as she heard Kristina snicker softly.

--- "I hate you."

Alexis smiled largely.

--- "Honey, you shouldn't be embarrassed to tell your sisters that Mommy had to give you a little spanking—"

Kristina and Molly laughed loudly.

--- "Mommy, you spanked Sam!?"

Sam buried her head under her pillow.

--- "You did not!"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Well, your sister pulled a lot of stunts yesterday that it was kind of coming for her."

She leaned in, lifted the pillow slightly, and gave her daughter a kiss.

--- "Honey, do you have a bruise? Do you need Mommy to check for you?"

Sam glared at her mother as her sisters continued to laugh.

--- "I'm going to get you back for this, Mom. And yea, you two, please continue to cackle, but let me remind you that you two live here."

Kristina poked her sister's bottom.

--- "And yet you're the one who ended up with a bruised butt."

Molly nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, did you put her over your knee, Mommy?

Alexis could not help but laugh aloud, earning herself a scowl from her daughter.

--- "If I were you, I wouldn't exactly laugh, Mom. It seems to me that you're about to have a conflict of interest."

Alexis wiped the tears that had formed from her laughing at her daughter.

--- "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Sam got up from the bed and walked toward her mother's bathroom.

--- "I believe my daddy being here and Mac on his way might result in another conflict of who's got the biggest wood you can knock."

Kristina and Molly looked at each other and screamed in shock.

--- "Sam's father? That's who that was?"

The door was knocked on once and opened. Diane poked her head in.

--- "Everybody decent?"

Alexis smiled at her friend.

--- "Ah, Di, come in. I don't know about decent, but we're all fully clothed."

The woman smiled and walked into the room holding a toothbrush and robe.

--- "Well, that's good! My goodness, Lex, that Mathieu is a fine specimen! He is tall, dark, and handsome… well, maybe not dark, but certainly handsome! Are you sure he's Sam's father?"

Alexis rolled her eyes before taking her daughter's toothbrush and robe from Diane.

--- "Yes, Di! I'm fairly certain that Mati is Sam's father. My mother wasn't very tall; I imagine that's where the girls get their height."

She knocked and walked into the bathroom to give her daughter her things.

Sam blushed as her mother caught her with a hand mirror attempting to see if she in fact had a bruise.

--- "Geez, Mom!"

Alexis chuckled to herself.

--- "Here you go bruiser."

She put the toothbrush on the counter and hung the bathrobe on the hook, before shaking her head, laughing, and walking out of her bathroom leaving her daughter mortified.

--- "So Di, aside from looking like a train ran you over, I see you're back to your normal self?"

Diane stuck her tongue out at her friend.

--- "I'll have you know that I seem to only have a toothbrush in my purse, not a change of clothes—"

Molly laughed and pointed at the woman's hair.

--- "Or a comb."

Alexis kissed her daughter on the top of the head as she sat down beside her; Diane rolled her eyes.

--- "Look, I was a little out of sorts—"

Alexis laughed at her friend's simplistic version of her state of sobriety.

--- "That is probably the biggest understatement since the last Administration's definition of an economic crisis. Whatever, I suppose I can give you your—"

Kristina interrupted her mother.

--- "I'm sorry, while I'm sure it's a great story how hammered Diane got last night—"

Di sighed and shook her head.

--- "If only I actually did get hammered—"

Alexis scowled at her best friend.

--- "DIANE!"

Diane put her hands up in innocence.

--- "What?!"

She looked around and noticed Molly staring at her.

--- "Oh, hello little one. Didn't I ask you to get me coffee?"

Molly rolled her eyes.

--- "Yes, but—"

Alexis cut her daughter off.

--- "Baby, you don't need to pay attention to Diane. If she wants coffee, she can make it herself. Diane, please don't have my children working as your personal baristas!"

Kristina was growing impatient; she had spent the past twenty minutes attempting to find out how her sister's father suddenly showed up out of nowhere.

--- "MOM! Can you please tell us about Sam's—"

Sam walked out of the bathroom freshly showered.

--- "What about Sam?"

Alexis walked up to her daughter and gave her a hug.

--- "I hope that the water pressure wasn't too painful for my baby?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "I swear if you tell any of these degenerates about the mirror, I'll never speak to you again."

Alexis snorted her muffled laughter. Sam smacked her mother on the arm.

--- "MOM! It's not funny!"

Alexis tapped her on the nose.

--- "Yes it was!"

Kristina was on the verge of a tantrum; she had never had a question evaded this badly.

--- "MOM! SAM! Molly and I really want to know—"

The doorbell rang. Kristina was not pleased.

--- "UUuuugh!"

Sam poked her mother in the side.

--- "It's showtime!"

She gave her daughter a look before raising her hand in mocking fashion as though she would once again spank her daughter.

--- "Remember, my love, that you're bare-bottomed under that robe."

Sam rolled her eyes as her mother tapped her chin.

Alexis then walked up and cupped Kristina's face in her hands.

--- "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. We'll talk about this later."

She gave her a kiss on the forehead.

--- "I need to go get that."

A thought came to her mind.

--- "Damn it! Mati's asleep on the couch."

Diane crossed her legs as she sat on her best friend's bed.

--- "Oh, he's freshening up in Sam's bathroom right now; which is why I brought her things in here."

Alexis was relieved about that fact; she knew that Mac was at the door for their breakfast date. Because she was not yet ready to go out with him, as she had not done her make-up, she did not want Mac to see that Mathieu had spent the night and jump to any conclusions. While she and Mac were clearly not an item, she did not assumptions to ruin anything that they might share together, and she certainly did not want to have to deal with the two men arguing again.

--- "That's great! Thanks Di!"

After Alexis walked out of the room, Diane whispered to the girls.

--- "Don't worry pumpkins; this is only going to get more fun!"

Molly was all ears.

--- "How do you know?"

Diane smiled.

--- "I made a little phone call to a certain somebody. I think we're about to witness a wonderful, 'Meet the Parents,' reenactment."

Sam's eyes nearly flew from their sockets.

--- "You DIDN'T!"

The older woman nodded her head.

--- "I did! I just could not help myself; I had to see this for myself."

Molly laughed.

--- "This is going to be great!"

Diane pursed her lips and stuck out her pigeon chest as she held the bedroom door open.

--- "And you two girls can thank me by getting me a cup of coffee! As for you Sam, I guess you can say that I saved you a phone call."

Kristina and Molly looked at each other before running out of the room and toward the living room, as Sam walked up to Diane holding her hands out toward her neck.

--- "Um, I guess I'll go, uh, get my things. I need to get going."

Diane quickly ran out of the room behind the two younger girls.

* * *

**Sorry JaSammers, you'll have to wait until the next installment.**

**GOOD NIGHT FOLKS! **

**Please Review.**


	20. Sausage Links

As I already said, JaSammers you should be happy for a bit... But I would like to once again remind you that this is Alexis' story, not theirs.

ENJOY and **REVIEW**.

**Chapter Twenty**

**Sausage Links**

Sam grabbed Diane's arm to bring her back into the room.

--- "Oh no you don't!"

Diane smiled innocently at the young woman.

--- "Sam, come on! They had to meet some day! And besides, Jason needed to see me anyway."

Sam let the woman go and gave her a once over.

--- "Looking like that, Diane? You look you spent your night in a barn!"

The older woman rolled her eyes.

--- "If only I had actually been rolling around in the hay—"

Sam covered her face.

--- "Okay, you know what, I don't have time for this. If you're so upset about Max's issues—"

Diane frowned.

--- "I will kill your mother for—"

Sam pulled her hairs up in a ponytail.

--- "Please, my mother didn't tell me anything. Anyone looking at you can see how meat deprived you've been. My suggestion to you, instead of lushing it up, sleeping in my bed, and then calling my boyfriend to entertain you, would be to simply go vegetarian and enjoy a slice of fish."

Diane made a face until Sam raised her eyebrows; she pursed her lips.

--- "I support fish, but I'll have you know that I enjoy a nice juicy piece of bratwurst, kielbasa, even cheddarwurst. I am a connoisseur of all things meaty!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "That's great, but I need to do damage control… and you might want to take a shower and brush your teeth before anyone else catches whiff of you otherwise, no butcher or fisher[ahem]man will want any part of you."

Diane pouted and sniffed herself.

--- "Ew. Well, I suppose I'll find something in your mother's closet to wear."

Sam rolled her eyes and looked Diane up and down.

--- "Hmm, sure she does."

Diane put her hands on her hips and began yelling at Sam as the younger woman walked out of Alexis' room.

* * *

Kristina and Molly attempted to run behind Alexis toward the living room, but she was having no part in their antics.

--- "Girls, go to your rooms."

--- "Aw, come on MOM!"

She stopped walking and pointed toward the direction of their bedrooms.

--- "I'm not asking you again. Remember Sam?"

Molly shrugged; she did not care to be spanked.

--- "Sorry Kristina, but I'm not THAT interested."

Alexis looked at her middle daughter.

--- "Well?"

Kristina crossed her arms.

--- "If I let you spank me, would you let me watch?"

She was confused.

--- "Okay, why are you so interested in my date with Mac?"

Molly laughed at her mother.

--- "Mommy, we don't care about you and Mac! We want to see Jason and Sam's father meet."

Alexis jokingly raised her hand to her daughter, who instinctively covered her bottom, before kissing her on the forehead.

--- "Baby, Jason would never come here. And besides, how would he have known that Mati were here? Sam hasn't spoken to him—"

Kristina smiled.

--- "But, Diane has."

She pressed the bridge of her nose. She did not even care about Jason meeting Mati; at that point, she just wanted to hurry up and leave with Mac for breakfast before Sam's father came out and made the situation awkward.

The doorbell rang again just as Sam was walking toward them.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Ok, you know what? Kristina, go get your sister some clothes to borrow. Sam, I have to get the door; I already know what Diane has done and I'll handle it. Um, if it's Blinker at the door, I don't want you anywhere in sight while Mac and I are still here."

Molly giggled.

--- "Mommy, you don't want to see this? This is going to be good! Sam telling her father that her boyfriend is—"

Alexis put her finger to her daughter's mouth.

--- "Mol, how about we not mention Jason's 'profession' out loud? Okay? Now, Krissy and Sam, please?"

--- "Fine."

--- "That's fine, Mom, but I swear I will murder your friend if this ends badly for Jason and me."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "How horribly could this possibly be, Sam? I don't like him, and I was the D.A.! I had him arrested plenty of times—"

--- "For things he didn't do."

--- "Please, if he hadn't done what I had him brought to the station for, he would have done something similar eventually. Now, go before I tell your sisters about the mirror."

Sam put up both hands in defeat, as Kristina and Molly looked at their sister curiously.

--- "I'm gone."

Alexis smiled.

--- "Thank you, bruiser!"

As she walked toward the living room at the sound of the third ring of the doorbell, Alexis sensed that she was being followed; it was Molly.

--- "And where are you going?"

--- "Um, I'm just going to, uh, get my book—"

--- "No, I don't think so."

Molly made a sad puppy face.

--- "But Mommy!"

Alexis smiled at her daughter, cupped her face, and gave her a kiss on the nose.

--- Molly, go."

She gave her a tap on the bottom and pointed toward her bedroom.

--- "Fine! But, I'm coming out if it sounds like its getting good!"

Alexis made to run after her, but Molly laughingly ran out of the room.

--- "Finally."

She entered the living room to find Mac at her door. She opened the door to let him in before he turned into an icicle.

--- "Hi Mac."

He shivered as he entered the house.

--- "Geez, Lex, I thought you were going to keep my out there! It's freezing!"

--- "I'm so sorry about that. I had three pains in my ass keeping me from answering."

She noticed that it was practically blizzarding outside.

--- "Oh, Mac, you didn't have to come all this way in the middle of a snowstorm! We could've rescheduled breakfast."

He smiled and held up two large bags. She took them from him and looked inside; it was breakfast from Kelly's. He removed his coat and scarf, and hung them on the coat rack.

--- "Lex, please! I figured that since we're in the midst of a snowstorm, and I'm sure that you didn't have anything here—"

She cut him off.

--- "Excuse me, but I've got food!"

He made a face, causing her to roll her eyes and smiled at the man.

--- "Okay FINE, Malcolm Scorpio, I might have rotten milk and old eggs—"

Sam, as she headed toward her bedroom dressed in her sister's jeans and sweater, heard her mother's comment. She stopped and smiled at her mother.

--- "Mom, you are NOT talking about that again! I thought Mac apologized to you for calling you an old refrigerator?"

Mac laughed.

--- "Excuse me, Sam, but I never called your mother an old fridge. I might have accidently and unintentionally insinuated that she was too old to have children, for which I profoundly apologized—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Sure, with flowers and a note from Robin. What did it say again? Blame it on my male chauvinistic mind?"

Mac laughed.

--- "Something like that, yes."

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Sam, honey, will you please go into the kitchen and grab enough plates for us. Mac brought breakfast for all of us."

Sam looked at her mother.

--- "Shouldn't I go—"

Alexis shook her head at her daughter; she did not want Mac knowing that Mathieu was at the house.

--- "Oh, Diane? Yea, um, I'll take care of that."

Sam cocked her head to the side as she gave her mother a strange look.

--- "What about Jason?"

Mac thought about the amount of food he had brought to the house.

--- "Uh, I actually bought breakfast for you, Lex and the girls. I didn't realize that Diane was here as well, and I definitely didn't know that Jason was coming by. Does he even eat?"

Alexis smacked his arm.

--- "He doesn't speak Mac, but I'm pretty sure he eats."

Sam crossed her arms.

--- "Thank you Mac, but I think that we'll just be leaving—"

Alexis pointed outside.

--- "Honey, there's a blizzard outside. I think we're unfortunately stuck here."

Sam ran to the door to check for herself.

--- "You have GOT to be kidding me."

Alexis closed her eyes and shook her head as she imagined what the next few hours would be like.

--- "Sam, believe me, I wish I were kidding."

Mac laughed.

--- "Do you people not look outside of your windows? How did you not notice this?"

Alexis poked him.

--- "Be quiet, you! We were too busy talking about… stuff! Anyway, when Jason gets here, honey, you'll just make yourself scarce."

Sam smiled coyly at her mother.

--- "Oh, I can arrange that."

Alexis rubbed her eyes.

--- "God, give me strength not to hurt this girl."

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. Sam raised her eyebrows to her mother before opening it.

--- "Hi Jason."

He smiled slightly and awkwardly kissed her as Alexis and Mac both stood in the room watching him.

--- "Hi Sam. Uh—"

He tried to stop her, as she went to close the door; someone stopped it from closing. Sam was shocked.

--- "Maxie? What are you doing here?"

Mac fumed at the sight of his daughter with Jason.

--- "What are you doing with this hitman?!"

The young woman smiled at her father and waved her hand dismissively.

--- "Daddy, please! I practically live with—"

Alexis interrupted the girl who clearly had a death wish. Considering the snowstorm, she did not need Mac murdering Maxie, thus leaving her family staring at the girl's body for the day.

--- "Maxie, can I take your coat? Jason, I assume you'll keep your leather jacket on?"

Jason stared at her as Sam wrapped her arms around him.

--- "Mom, quit it."

Maxie shivered.

--- "You know what, Alexis, I'll hold on to my coat. Some people are rude, and they left me to walk in the cold!"

Jason looked at the girl.

--- "Do you see what you're wearing, Maxie? I didn't tell you to leave the house dressed that way."

Everyone turned to look at the girl's attire. Mac shook his head at his daughter, as he led her to the couch.

--- "Maxie, why exactly do you have three inch heels in the snow."

She looked at her father as though he had several heads.

--- "Daddy? Really? I'm sorry, but poor weather is no excuse to walk around looking unfashionable!"

Mac looked to Alexis, who shrugged her shoulders and smiled at the man.

--- "I guess you're right, honey. Please excuse my ignorance. I didn't realize that it was fashionable to walk around in the snow in heels so early in the morning. Now, can you please tell me what you're doing with this… with him this early in the morning?"

--- "I wasn't with Jason, per se! I was with Spinelli—"

Mac turned bright red.

--- "MAXIE!"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Mac, I'm a married—"

--- "You are not married to him!"

--- "Practically. ANYWAY, the reason I'm here is because I heard that Sam's father was here—"

Mac was shocked.

--- "Mathieu's here?"

Sam bit her lip as she looked at her mother who cleared her throat; she decided to change the subject.

--- "Um, I guess that means there are about nine of us for breakfast then? Do we have enough food?"

Suddenly a knock was heard. Alexis rolled her eyes; she did not have any space to accommodate any more people. She was shocked to see her daughter's father at the door.

--- "Mati? What the hell are you doing outside?"

He held two bags in his hands; he smiled at Alexis, but scowled when he noticed Mac, who returned the glare, standing in the room.

--- "Er, Samantha, I hope you don't mind, but I took your car to buy breakfast for the family."

He ensured to stress the last word for Mac's benefit. Sam smiled at her father.

--- "Thanks Mathieu. No I don't mind at all; that was actually really thoughtful of you."

Sam pushed Jason forward to take the bags from her father.

--- "I'll take those."

The Frenchman nodded his head and handed the bag to the man.

--- "Thank you."

He leaned forward and gave Alexis, who was still standing at the door, a kiss on either cheek.

--- "Bonjour Cherie, ca va?"

Alexis blushed slightly before responding in English, so as not to be rude to the many people in her house.

--- "I'm fine, thanks. You?"

Mathieu nodded and grinned widely.

--- "I'm very well, Cherie. I'm sorry I just left the way I did; I didn't want to wake you this morning seeing as we had a very late night."

Sam leaned her head into Jason's arm, as Maxie's mouth hung open, and Mac's face reddened. Alexis rubbed her eyebrows together; she realized that it was going to be a very long day if she didn't get these men out of her house, or at the very least, to separate parts of it.

--- "[ahem] Thank you for being considerate Mati; SAM and I were actually woken up by—"

Kristina and Molly walked into the room; they had actually been eavesdropping and figured that with all the people in the room it would be alright to make their presence known.

Alexis smiled in a 'you're busted' type of way at her two youngest daughters.

--- "Ah ha, and enter my little eavesdroppers. We were woken up by these two. Girls, I'd like you to meet Mathieu LeGros, Sam's father. Mati, these two are Kristina and Molly, my other two daughters I told you about."

He kissed each of the girls' hands, causing Molly to giggle.

--- "Mommy, he's just like the Cyrano—"

Mathieu frowned at the girl.

--- "I hope you don't think I look like him, mademoiselle? He wasn't very cute."

The youngest Davis girl laughed.

--- "No! I mean you're just as suave as he is. You're actually quite handsome."

He smiled at the little girl who resembled his own daughter.

--- "Well, thank you very much."

Alexis smiled at Mac who continued to glare at the man who was putting a severe damper on his date with her. She lipped to him that she was sorry. She then turned her attention to her eldest daughter.

--- "Sam, honey, would you care to introduce your… would you care to introduce Mati to… would you—"

Sam shook her head at her mother.

--- "Mathieu, I'd like to introduce you to Jason; he's my boyfriend. Jason, this is my father Mathieu."

The Frenchman looked the man over; he could not say that he particularly cared for the man who was apparently made of steel. There was something about him that bothered him; but he realized that it was not his place to say anything.

--- "It's nice to meet you, Jason."

Jason nodded his head.

Mathieu then awkwardly kissed his daughter on either cheek; he felt embarrassed afterwards for being presumptuous. Sam however smiled at the man, which put him at ease.

--- "Good Morning, ma belle."

--- "Morning."

He loved to see his daughter smile, as she looked like Alexis in that moment; they both had dimples on their cheeks. He lovingly looked at his daughter; he could not believe that she was standing in front of him. He had longed for this day all of his life.

--- "How are you feeling, Samantha?"

Maxie smirked from across the room.

--- "Samantha? No one calls her—"

Sam glared at her friend.

--- "Maxie, if my father wants to call my Samantha, it's fine with me. Mathieu, I'm feeling much better, thank you."

He looked back at Alexis.

--- "I suppose your mother took good care of you?"

Kristina scoffed.

--- "She took care of her alright!"

Alexis went over to her daughter and wrapped her arm around her and rested her chin on the top of her petite daughter's head.

--- "Don't mind this one. She just wants me to take care of her as well as I did her sister. And yes, I guess I did take care of Sam; we beat the hell out of that fever."

Sam smiled and rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Thanks Mom."

Alexis let go of her daughter.

--- "Okay. So, there are how many of us? Nine of us? Okay, so um, we're all obviously not going to be able to sit at the table so—"

Diane walked into the room wearing Alexis' newly purchased sweatsuit.

--- Geez, these are the only things in your mother's closet that fit. My goodness, she's got 'off the pole' written across the backside. I don't think that's all that true in regard to Lex; she wasn't exactly on it to… begin… with."

She looked around the room, not realizing the amount of people in the room; she had expected to find one of the girls in the living room. She smiled as she looked from Alexis to Mac, then back to Alexis to Mati. She grinned widely as she looked at Sam with an obviously uncomfortable Jason and back again to Mati, who himself stared back and forth between Alexis and Sam.

--- "My, my, my, there sure is a lot of meat in here."

Molly looked at her mother. Alexis squeezed her daughter's chin and twirled her finger around her own head to indicate that Diane was crazy.

Maxie, on the other hand, laughed at Diane's comment.

--- "Well, considering the weather outside, you all have the option of frozen sausage links, or warm ones. I, for one, am taking a pass for the day."

Kristina sat on the arm of the couch.

--- "Yea, me too."

Sam and Alexis glared at the girl.

--- "Excuse me?"

--- "Krissy?!"

Kristina blushed and bit her lip as her mother and sister tended to do when they were nervous.

--- "Oh, ha ha, I meant, for a really REALLY long time."

Molly looked at her sister.

--- "Kristina, you love sausage. Why wouldn't you want any?"

Everyone in the room snickered to themselves, earning them glares from Alexis.

--- "Baby, um… never mind. They're just being silly. Kristina can have all the CUT-UP sausage she wants. Isn't that right, angel? You don't have it whole."

Kristina nodded her head, as Sam laughed to herself.

Alexis pointed her finger at both of her daughters before once again attempting to turn her attention to the people in the room.

--- "OKAY! Let's try this again without interruption? There are nine of us here. The table seats four, and three people can sit on the couches—"

Diane interrupted her best friend.

--- "Yes, and so that leaves two people without space to eat."

Jason entered the conversation.

--- "You know, I could leave, and take—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, unless one of you men have some kind of magical defrosting liquid for the snow out there that is undoubtedly covering our cars and streets, we're all, and I mean any person that came from my loins, stuck here for a while. I mean, if you want to leave, Jason, that's fine, but Sam's isn't going with you."

Mac interrupted.

--- "I second that opinion in regard to Maxie. I'll be taking her back to her place when the storm clears."

Maxie shook her head.

--- "Excuse me, Mac, but my husband—"

--- "HE IS NOT YOUR HUSBAND!"

Mathieu decided to stir the pot for his own amusement.

--- "That's a lovely ring you have on your finger, Maxie."

The girl smiled at the man.

--- "Why thank you!"

Mathieu smirked.

--- "Your husband is very generous."

Sam noticed Mac's ears steaming.

--- "Um, okay! Back to the topic at hand. As disgustingly put as my mother put it, I'm not even going to argue with her because I actually agree; it's nasty out and I don't think any of us should be leaving. I mean, we have food here! I think we have popcorn and chips, and we've definitely got cookies, so at least, we don't have to worry about starving. So let's make this best of this interesting circumstance."

Alexis winked at her daughter.

--- "See what a bedtime persuading can do for your child?"

Sam crossed her arms.

--- "Mom!"

Alexis smiled and thought for a moment.

--- "Okay, I guess Molly and Kristina can sit on the floor at the coffee table to allow the adults—"

Sam cleared her throat.

--- "Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She eyed her daughter.

--- "Sam, I'm sure everyone is hungry"

The people in the room nodded in agreement, but Sam rolled her eyes at them.

--- "Mom, this will take two seconds."

--- "Fine."

Alexis followed her daughter into her bedroom and sat on the bed.

--- "Honey, what is it?"

--- "Mom, I'm pregnant."

Alexis nearly fainted.

--- "WHAT?"

Sam crossed her arms.

--- "No, not really, but I will be if you don't get out of there!"

Alexis covered her mouth in shock.

--- "What the hell is wrong with you, Samantha? You scared the crap out of me! How does me, being in the living room, mean that you'll end up pregnant?"

Sam bent close to her mother's face so that she could whisper just in case her nosey little sisters were at the door.

--- "Have you noticed the two men, one being my father, staring at you this whole time? Have you noticed that their guns are about to be drawn and ready to aim? They're vying to prove who's got the biggest gun and lethal bullet. If you don't get out of that room with one of them, it's going to be a creamy mess in there and they don't seem to care where it lands. Mom, I have to say, I don't want to be hit with anybody else's—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "That's enough. Okay. Where exactly do you suppose that I go?"

Diane opened the bedroom door and smiled as she held a blanket, and Kristina and Molly followed behind her with a glasses and plates.

--- "Right here. You have a date, and you're not missing it."

Molly nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, Mommy, we've got eggs and sausage—"

Sam smiled.

--- "Yes indeed!"

Alexis poked her daughter's side.

--- "Will you quit it?!"

Sam shrugged and helped Diane fix the blanket on the floor.

Alexis ran her hands through her hair.

--- "What about Mati?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "What about him? I know he's my dad, and all, but I suppose I can keep him entertained while you have your breakfast date with Mac. I mean, there's always lunch!"

Diane looked around the room.

--- "Hmm, isn't this ironic?"

Alexis looked at her best friend.

--- "What is, Di?"

Diane smiled at her friend.

--- "The scene of the crime which led to this encounter was quite similar to this? Perhaps he'll have his hard drive with him, and maybe you can work it?"

Molly looked at Diane.

--- "Di, my Mom already has her own computer. She's on it all of the time."

Sam, Diane, and even Kristina, looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Diane passed her hand along the innocent child's cheek.

--- "I'm sure she is, honey."


	21. The Technicalities of Coffee and Eggs

Um, JaSammers, I figured you would've been happy with his inclusion at the lake house… hmm.

Here is a ridiculously long update for ya. PLEASE REVIEW.

Must I really say that this is UNEDITED?

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**The Technicalities of Coffee and Eggs**

--- "Have fun Mom!"

--- "Yea, Mommy!"

Diane ushered the girls out of the room leaving Sam with Alexis. She fixed her mother's sweater, despite her obvious annoyance, so that one shoulder was exposed.

--- "You have to stop being so prudish, Mom."

Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "Honey, I'm not being prudish, I'm simply being classy."

--- Yea, okay. Then classy must mean one who gets none because that's you."

Alexis smacked her daughter's hand from her shirt.

--- "Okay, out. I've no intention of getting any right now anyway; not with all of you nosey people in the house—"

--- "Especially with Mathieu, or Mati, as you call him, glaring at Mac and ogling in your direction. He totally wants to fill you with some crepe batter."

--- "Seriously, goodbye, Samantha—"

Sam laughed. She loved making her mother uncomfortable. In fact, she enjoyed that they had reached such a point in their relationship where she could be so comfortable with her mother to have such conversations.

--- "It's Sam, Mom."

Alexis made a face at her daughter.

--- "Excuse me?"

She smiled as she went to retrieve her mother's make-up.

--- "Only my daddy can call me Samantha."

Alexis stood up and approached her daughter; she put the brush and powder she held in her hands back onto the dresser. Now that Sam had opened the door, she figured that that moment was the best time to broach the subject.

--- "Honey, sit with me."

--- "Come on, you have a hungry man waiting outside, and a hungry daughter who would like to get some sausage into her—"

Alexis was amazed at her daughter's ability to turn every possible conversation into one in which she would certainly make a sailor blush.

--- "Sam, I swear, your mind is truly something special—"

The young woman smiled at her mother.

--- "Why thank you! It means a lot coming from you, Mom!"

She shook her head as she fixed her daughter's messy ponytail.

--- "Seriously, I want to talk to you for a moment—"

Sam had an idea of what her mother wanted to discuss with her, but decided to play dumb.

--- "About?"

--- "Sam, we have yet to really talk about your feelings in regard to everything that you heard last night."

Sam rolled her eyes and reached for the make-up so that she could fix her mother's face; she did not want to have this conversation. Alexis, on the other hand, grabbed her wrists; she did not want her daughter avoiding the subject.

--- "Sam—"

--- "Mom."

Alexis let go of one of Sam's wrists and pulled her chin up so that she could look her daughter in the eyes; there were tears forming.

--- "Sweetheart, talk to me."

Sam shook her head, and wiped her face of the few tears that escaped.

--- "We don't have time for this. We need to get you ready for your date! Your make-up isn't done and your hair is a mess; at this rate you'll never get Mac or Mathieu, for that matter, to frost your cake."

Alexis knew that Sam was hiding behind her jokes; she knew her daughter too well to allow her to get away with it.

--- "Thanks, honey, but Mac can wait. You're about to go outside and mingle with your father and your… and Jason, for the next couple of hours—"

Sam smiled.

--- "Oh, so you'll need a couple of hours. Shall we soundproof the room?"

Alexis was trying her best not to get frustrated with her daughter.

--- "Samantha, stop it. You haven't dealt with how you feel about everything you heard last night, and I'm not letting you out of here until you do."

Sam bit her lip and looked at her mother. She was amazed at the relationship that the had forged with each other, despite all of the crap that she had put her through all of those years ago. Then she thought about what she had heard the night before, about how her mother never wanted to give her up, and how both of her parents had every intention of raising her; it broke her heart. She became defensive.

--- "What do you want me to tell you, Mom, that I absolutely hate your father? That I hate my grandparents, and wish them dead, if they aren't already? That if I ever see Helena again, I might have to kill her because she ruined my life?"

--- "Sam—"

Sam pulled her arm free from her mother's grasp and walked around the room looking at the pictures of her sisters and her throughout the years.

--- "No, Mom. I look at Molly and I think, 'hey, that was supposed to be you, you should have a great education, and you should have been loved from a young age.' But I wasn't. I was raised by a woman who hated me, and a man who taught me to swindle people for their money. I was a cheat and a con! By the time you and I were reunited, I had slept with countless men, cheated them out of thousands of dollars, had a baby, buried my baby—"

Sam looked at her mother at the mention of Lila; she did not mean to insinuate that she had any lingering anger towards her.

--- "I don't blame you, Mom."

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "I know, baby."

She knew she had to let her daughter vent; this was a long time coming. She had the same thoughts throughout the night of how Sam's life might have been different if only her father had not lied to her, and had enough balls to allow her to keep her baby, despite Helena's protestations. She wondered what Sam and her life would have been like had she been given that chance to give her daughter a loving home, instead of the life of crime in which she was raised.

She stood and watched her daughter continue to pace the room looking at their family pictures.

--- "I think we would have had a nice life. I mean, it wouldn't have been as luxurious as Krissy and Mol have it, but at least I would've had you. Mathieu seems like a decent guy—"

Alexis nodded in agreement.

--- "He is, or at least the one that I knew was. I think you should get to know your father."

Sam sat on the bed and looked at her mother.

--- "I think I will. I mean, it's not like I have anything to lose. I'm stuck with you—"

Alexis sat beside her daughter and took her hand into her own.

--- "You better believe it. Despite the fact that I'd like to shake you free of your sick and twisted mind, I won't ever leave you."

The young woman looked at her mother with a pained look in her eyes.

--- "I just don't understand why I had to get the short end of the stick. Things would have been, gosh they would be, so much easier between us if you had raised me—"

Alexis held her daughter's face in her hands, wiping the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

--- "Honey, tell me how many mothers and daughters have easy relationships? My goodness, look at Krissy and me! One day she loves me, then the next day she hates me."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "She doesn't hate you—"

Alexis smiled.

---- "And neither do you, and God knows we argue a lot. But, that's my point. Honey, we've had ten years of ups and downs, but I've loved you from the moment I knew I was pregnant with you. Even through everything that happened early in our relationship, I never stopped loving you. As far as I'm concerned, there is no difference between you, Kristina, and Molly. I'd punish the girls just like I'd punish you—"

Sam wiped her nose and smiled at her mother.

--- "Mom, you can't punish me."

Alexis poked her daughter in the side.

--- "Call me nuts, but this is coming from someone who was standing in that bathroom but thirty minutes ago with her Mommy's mirror in hand, trying to see if she had a bruise on her tushy."

--- "And that was just because you played dirty and caught me off guard!"

Alexis pulled her daughter to her. She kissed her forehead before resting her cheek on the top of her head.

--- "Honey, I know that my father, Helena, and your grandparents robbed us, more Mati than me, of precious time with you, but we're not going to let that take over our lives. Okay? It's all shoulda, coulda, wouldas. You see the pictures in here! I have so many memories with my girls. Now you need to start forming a relationship with your dad; he wants it just as badly as you do."

Sam nodded her head in agreement.

--- "I will. I just hope that he doesn't hate Jason as much as you do."

Alexis sighed and looked at her daughter.

--- "Hey, not everyone can be liked. And besides, you're his only daughter; I can imagine that he'll be protective of his little girl—"

--- "Mom, I'm a bit too old to be his little girl—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Hey, I didn't raise you, but you're my baby just as much as your sisters. So believe me, since you're his only child, you'll be his little juju bean."

Sam frowned at her mother.

--- "Okay, what in the world is up with you and these references to candy?"

Alexis smiled and walked into her closet. She pulled out a pumpkin basket, which undoubtedly belonged to Molly, filled with candy.

--- "I guess I've been enjoying them a bit too much."

Sam went to reach for a package, but her mother swatted her hand away.

--- "Samantha, it's eight-thirty in the morning!"

The young woman shook her head.

--- "Great, if it's this bad with one parent, how in the world am I going to tolerate two?"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I suppose you better become daddy's girl."

Sam bit her lip and looked at her mother.

--- "My mother, the genius!"

She began to walk toward the door, but Alexis grabbed her arm and pulled her to her.

--- "I love you, sweetheart."

Sam held onto her mother, almost taking in her natural flowery scent.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

As she attempted to leave again, her mother stopped her.

--- "Uh, Sam?"

--- "Hmm?"

Alexis grabbed the make-up and held it out to her.

--- "Make Mommy pretty so she can play with the Commissioner's big stick."

Sam laughed as she grabbed the makeup from her mother, pointing to the chair, so that she could take a seat.

--- "My Mommy is always pretty."

* * *

Mathieu decided to take the time his daughter was in with Alexis to speak to her boyfriend and find out what he was about. He did not care that he had just met the girl, he wanted to ensure that this man was the perfect fit for his little girl. He walked up to the man.

--- "So, uh, Jason how long have you and Samantha been dating."

Jason was never comfortable being in Alexis' house. In addition, he did not like being surrounded by people who made him feel ill at ease: Sam's father, who, if he was anything like Alexis, would be a pain in his behind; Mac, who was always willing to find some excuse to arrest him; Maxie, who never shut up; and Diane, who was always attempting to stir the pot for her own sick and twisted pleasure. He looked at his girlfriend's newly discovered father.

--- "A couple of months."

Mathieu nodded his head. He was grateful that it wasn't for very long as he could not pinpoint exactly what it was about Jason that he did not like, but hoped that his daughter had enough sense to dump him. Nonetheless, he knew it was not his place to let his feelings known as he was a mere stranger; he figured he would speak to Alexis instead.

--- "And what is it that you do?"

Without missing a beat, Jason responded.

--- "Coffee Importer."

Mac coughed across the room at the sound of Jason's supposed profession.

--- "That's some loaded coffee."

Diane walked into the room with the girls.

--- "Are we discussing coffee here? Because I could sure use some."

Mathieu smiled at the woman.

--- "No, in fact, we were discussing Jason's profession."

The attorney smiled and looked to her client, who stood with his arms crossed, then over to Mac who glared between Mathieu and Jason.

--- "Oh, my client is a coffee importer, and do not allow this man here to have you believe otherwise. There is no proof to the contrary."

Mathieu scratched the side of his face; there was something about the man everyone knew about, but for which he was clearly out of the loop.

--- "Why would there be any proof to the contrary?"

Diane pursed her lips. She refused to be the reason her best friend's daughter's father Dr. Kavorkian'ed her best client.

--- "Oh nothing! That's just how we crazy Port Charles folk talk! Don't mind us! Jason, may I talk to you for a second? I mean, we should probably make some coffee for the people, right? Since that IS what you do for a living?"

Jason walked over to the woman who dragged him into the kitchen. She began rummaging through the kitchen for the coffee.

--- "Jason, you need to stop standing there like some kind of statue! As much as some might tell you otherwise, you, my friend, are not the David! Get yourself together!"

He stared at the woman.

--- "What are you talking about Diane? What would you like for me to tell the man? Hello, Mathieu, I'm not really a coffee importer, I'm actually a hitman—"

Diane pointed to the man.

--- "Alleged hitman."

Jason grabbed the decorative jar in which Alexis kept the coffee.

--- "Here."

Diane was shocked.

--- "How the hell did you know that was where she kept her coffee?"

--- "Sam has the same one."

She gave him an almost threatening look for having her search through the cabinets for nothing.

--- "Okay, well, I guess you should start making enough to last us through the day."

Jason looked at the woman as though she had lost all of her mind.

--- "Excuse me?"

Diane pointed to the coffee maker.

--- "Uh, clearly you don't think I'm going to sit here and make us coffee? You're the coffee importer; impress your future father-in-law with your knowledge of the stuff."

Jason sighed heavily.

--- "Diane, I know about coffee beans, I don't have to actually make coffee."

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Look, it can't be that hard. And besides, you and I both know that you don't want to be in the living room with all of those people anyway. So, make yourself useful and make us some damn coffee!"

She left the kitchen before he could protest any further.

--- "Okay! Who's ready to eat?"

Maxie stood up quickly.

--- "Um, I am. After the workout I had this morning, I'm absolutely famished!"

Mac never knew his daughter to exercise a day in her life.

--- "Maxie, you went to the gym this morning?"

The girl smiled at her father. She never understood why her father asked her such loaded questions, but she certainly did take a sick pleasure to torturing him with more information than he needed to know about her love life with Spinelli. Perhaps it was simply because of his dislike for the boy, or as a means of reminding the man whom she loved as her father, that she was not his little girl anymore and had a very active sex life.

--- "Oh no Daddy. I never left the bed."

Molly grabbed a plate and began filling it with food. She looked at Maxie.

--- "What kind of exercise could you have possibly—"

Kristina squeezed her little sister's shoulders.

--- "Mol, why don't you take some things that Mom would enjoy, and we'll serve it to her and Mac as though they were actually in Kelly's for breakfast?"

The young girl loved catering to her mother's needs as Alexis was always willing to do the same for her and her sisters.

--- "Okay!"

Maxie blushed slightly as she lipped the words 'thank you,' to the teen. Kristina smiled and nodded at the girl.

--- "Commissioner Scorpio—"

He interrupted the girl.

--- "Kristina, Molly, you both can call me Mac."

--- "Okay, Mac, I'm pretty sure you can go into my Mom's bedroom—"

Maxie reached over and poked her father in the back.

--- "Go get 'em, Daddy!"

He wanted to strangle his daughter.

--- "Maxie, go get something to eat. Kristina, thank you."

He walked in the same direction he had seen Sam and Alexis leave, although he did not have a clue as to where Alexis' room actually was. Luckily, as he walked, Sam stepped out of the room.

--- "Hey Mac."

--- "I take it this is your mother's room?"

She nodded.

--- "Yup, come on in!"

He noticed Alexis standing beside the blanket Diane had brought in; the fireplace was lit. He looked at the woman and was amazed at how radiant she looked.

--- "Hi Lex."

Alexis smiled nervously at him, causing her dimples to become more prominent.

--- "Hey, come on in. Thanks Sam."

Sam smirked at her mother as she walked out of the room.

--- "May sure to keep the door open; we have guests."

Alexis, put her finger up to Mac telling him to wait a moment; she stuck her head out of the door.

--- "SAM!"

The young woman laughed and waved to her mother.

--- "Sorry Mommy!"

Alexis rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a look of warning.

--- "Honey, remember, in this house, we have our sausage cut up."

She stopped walking to turn around and stare at her mother.

--- "Mom, you NEVER have sausage of any kind in this house."

Alexis pointed her two fingers to her own eyes, then in the direction of her daughter.

--- "I'm serious, sweetheart. The only fish and loaves to be had tonight will be in the form of the many bags of Swedish Fish I have in the closet and the molded bread in the pantry."

Molly, who was carrying a plate to the room with Kristina in tow was shocked.

--- "MOMMY! You said that you gave the candy away!"

Sam decided to leave her mother and sister to handle the stolen candy situation on their own. She walked into the living all smiles, but Mati, much as he was able to tell when Alexis had been crying, had the same sense when it came to his daughter. He walked up to the girl.

--- "Ma belle, you were crying."

Sam frowned at the man; she could not believe that he had been able to tell. She had in fact made sure to wash her face before coming back out into the living room, and her mother had told her that she did not look as though she were a person who was recently crying.

--- 'Um, I'm fine, Mathieu. Mom and I were just talking, that's all."

He nodded his head. As much as he would love to fast forward through the time so that he and his daughter might have the same relationship that she did with her mother. He knew that it would take time; he was willing to take all the time Sam needed.

--- "Okay. Are you sure you're feeling better? You should eat something."

Sam smiled and did something that she had least expected; she leaned in and gave the man a hug.

--- "Thank you, Mathieu."

Diane and Maxie smiled at the scene; they were happy that Sam finally had a father.

Mathieu did not notice the women staring at them; he simply wrapped his arms around his daughter and gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "I don't know what I did for you, but you're welcome."

Sam held the man for a couple of seconds before releasing him. She was embarrassed at the sudden show of affection, but she could not help herself. While she had always known that her mother loved and wanted her, the knowledge that her father felt the same way pushed her over the top; she was happier than she had been in a long time.

She pulled away from him, blushing slightly.

--- [ahem] Um, where's Jason?"

Mathieu noticed her discomfort, so he simply smiled.

--- "He's in the kitchen. I think he's hiding."

Sam laughed.

--- "Why would he be hiding?"

Maxie, who had been listening to the conversation, decided to put in her two cents.

--- "Oh, that's because your dad asked him what he did for a living—"

Sam looked at the man and quickly replied.

--- "He's a coffee importer."

He nodded his head, not exactly believing that to be true, but accepting everyone's admissions.

--- "So I heard. You know, you should really eat something Samantha."

She nodded; it was going to be very interesting dealing with not only one overbearing parent, but now two.

--- "Yea, I will; I just need to go help Jason with the Coffee."

Diane rolled her eyes as she sat at the table waiting for everyone to come eat.

--- "Please do; mud isn't my drink of preference the morning after a binge."

* * *

Alexis and Mac sat on the floor in her bedroom in awkward silence as Molly sat on the bed watching them. When Alexis could not handle it any longer she turned to her daughter.

--- "Mol, didn't you tell me that you didn't care about my date with Mac?"

She nodded her head.

--- "I don't."

Mac stifled a laugh.

--- "So why are you here?"

--- "Diane told me to stay in here and make sure that Mac didn't squirt any syrup anywhere other than his plate because the last thing you'd want are little surprises crawling around here; she said that he looks like he would be the messy type."

Alexis looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. She made a note to herself to kill Diane once Mac was out of house and have Jason put his 'profession' to some good use and dispose of her body in some way-off place.

She stood up and took her daughter by the hand, leading her to the door.

--- "Tell Diane that she doesn't need to worry, I'm sure Mac will remember to put the cap on."

Molly wanted to question her mother on her exactly Mac was going to get the syrup out of the bottle if he were to have the cap on, but Alexis pushed out of the room.

--- "Don't worry, baby, Diane will know what I'm talking about."

--- "But Mom—"

Alexis blew her a kiss and closed the door. She leaned against it, exasperated and looked at Mac.

--- "Is it me, or are our "dates" just really weird."

He stood up and walked up to her.

--- "Well, technically we haven't had a date."

He led her to her seat on the floor. He acted as though he were pulling a seat out.

--- "If I may, madame."

She smiled at him.

--- "Why thank you monsieur."

He helped her onto the floor before returning to his place.

--- "Okay, that is the extent of my French outside of voulez-vous couchez avec moi, but I guess I'll save that for a later date."

Alexis smirked.

--- "Since you were talking in technicalities before, I suppose that TECHNICALLY we did sleep together."

He cut a piece of his French toast; perhaps more brutally than necessary.

--- "I guess you're right, but this is our first real date. I mean, we getting drunk at Jake's wasn't a date—"

She agreed.

--- "No it wasn't."

--- "And God knows dinner last night wasn't a date."

Alexis smiled at the memory.

--- "Hmm, not so much. Although, I think that when you actually came by and brought me dinner, that was—"

--- "No, it wasn't."

She laughed as she buttered her croissant.

--- "How could you say it wasn't? We were here alone. We had food. We talked."

He pointed his fork at her.

--- "It was NOT a date, Lex! You were dressed in sweatpants that said, 'Off the Pole.'"

She nearly choked on the croissant.

--- "What, you're not in the habit of dating former strippers?"

--- "No, I can't say that I am. But seriously, Lex, I'm glad that even though this is the weirdest date that I've had, I'm glad that we're finally able to have this."

She nodded in agreement.

--- "You know, I am too. I swear, my girls think that I'm only capable of dating homicidal maniacs—"

--- "Well, I can't disagree with them on that point. You do have interesting taste in men."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Have you killed people as a profession, or simply because it gets you off? Because if you haven't I don't think this is going to work!"

He looked at her sincerely; he had never before realized how beautiful she was to him.

--- "Seriously, what is it about us that two successful professionals are unable to find anyone? I mean, you're a beautiful, gorgeous, sensual woman—"

Alexis blushed.

--- "Stop, you're going to make one of my eggs crack!"

He put his plate down.

--- "Lex, I'm serious. You are so beautiful, and yet you're single—"

--- "Well, you're not too bad to look at yourself Mr. Scorpio, and there you are. I don't know what it is. I think it's because we're workaholics. We don't have anything to talk to people about except Jason's recent crimes, or about our kids. Think about it, the only thing that we've spoken about aside having seen each other au natural, was work and our daughters."

He thought about it and realized that she was right. He needed to show her that she and he had more in common than work and their kids. There had to be a way to get through the awkwardness of transitioning from friends to dating, then finally into a relationship. He suddenly had a lightbulb moment; they needed to do something completely outside of themselves.

--- "I have an idea to break the ice."

She frowned at him.

--- "What is it?"

He stood up and held her hand out to him.

--- "Just follow me."

--- "Um, okay, but let me finish this piece of Gruyere."

Mac at that moment realized what had just happened.

--- "I didn't buy any of this stuff."

She looked at the meal in front of them: French Toast, Croissant, and French Cheese, along ham and fresh fruits. She shook her head.

--- "No you didn't. This would be a predominantly French breakfast we've just had; I'm going to venture a guess that this is the stuff Mati bought."

He sighed and shook his head; he really could not stand the man.

--- "Come on."

Alexis was never one to get up and go without knowing where she was being led, especially in the middle of a snowstorm.

--- "Where are you taking me, Mac?"

He looked at her with his beautiful blue eyes.

--- "Do you trust me?"

She nodded.

--- "I've known you for years, I'm pretty sure that you're one of the most trustworthy people I know."

He smiled and held his hand out.

--- "So, trust and follow me."

Alexis nervously bit her lip and took his hand into hers.

--- "Okay."

As they approached the door, he snapped his fingers.

--- "Um, do you have something warmer than that to put on?"

She gave him a weird look.

--- "I don't think I like the way this is sounding."

He grabbed her two shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.

--- "Lex, trust me!"

* * *

Sam walked into the kitchen to find Jason staring at the coffee maker from the island.

--- "You know, the coffee maker is not going to turn itself on."

He looked at her.

--- "This is Diane's doing you know. I think your father suspects that I'm not really a coffee importer."

She began to make the coffee.

--- "Technically you are—"

He got up and pulled her away from the counter.

--- "I'm glad that you're happy."

She smiled at him. While most people said that he was not a talker, she understood what he said in the few words that he said.

--- "Thank you. I really am. I was so grateful to have my mother in my life, and to finally have a family, that it never bothered me that I didn't know who my father was."

--- "But now you do."

She nodded and laid her head on his chest.

--- "Yea. And the best part is that he wanted me."

He past his hand up and down her back.

--- "He didn't want to give you up?"

She shook her head.

--- "No. It was my grandparents who were the cause of everything."

She felt the tears welling in her eyes again. He felt her breathing change, so he pulled back from her and pulled her face up so that he might kiss her; he gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

--- "It doesn't matter what they did anymore."

She sighed and looked at him as the tears continued to roll down her face.

--- "I know. And you're probably right, but—"

He shook his head.

--- "No buts. You wouldn't be you if you didn't go through what you did."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "A former con and thief?"

He wiped the tears from her face.

--- "A strong, independent, brave and dynamic woman who loves harder than anyone I know. Sam, you wouldn't be the person I—"

When he noticed that she had averted her eyes from him, he tapped her chin; she looked at him. He smiled in his subtle way before giving her a tender kiss.

--- "Sam, I love you."

The tears flowed freely from her eyes as she looked at the man whom she never thought she would ever love again. He was the man who helped give her the family that she loved so dearly. Despite the problems of their previous relationship, and the horrible way that they had broken up, if it weren't for it, she would have certainly remained the dependent, man hungry person that she had been. She was a completely different person, in a completely different place because of her experiences with this man who held her so warmly, and loved her so gently. She looked at him and smiled.

--- "Jason, I love you too."

Alexis and Mac tiptoed passed the kitchen as the couple exchanged their professions of love. She looked at the man and stuck her finger in her mouth and gagging fashion.

--- "Will you two get a room?"

Sam looked behind Jason to see her mother standing at the kitchen door wearing a flannel coat; it was the same coat that she had practically stolen from a bar in the middle of nowhere she and Diane had gotten stranded in when they were on their way to the "Litigator of the Year" ceremony.

--- "Um, I have a room, that you won't let me go to, Elmer Fudd."

Alexis walked into the kitchen and opened a drawer; she pulled out a knife. Sam gave her mother a weird look.

--- "What are you doing?"

Alexis smiled at her daughter.

--- "Cutting up the sausage you'd like to have for breakfast."

* * *

**Alright, don't expect an update for a few days, so that should give you all more than enough time to review the toils of my labor. =o)**

**Merry Christmas!!**


	22. Crappy Reveals

I hope those who celebrate Christmas had a fantabulous one! I for one, did! Here's another ridiculously long chapter. Hope it's up to par. You'll hopefully tell me if it is or isn't!

UNEDITED as I've been summoned to bake with my niece. Since some of this chapter was written when I was slightly Goosed up, I will definitely be looking it over later. For now, just enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Crappy Reveals**

Sam laughingly stood in front of Jason.

--- "Mom, you've lost it."

Alexis rolled her eyes and put the knife away. She eyed Jason's jacket and looked at Mac. He met her gaze and shook his head.

--- "Uh, no, I don't think so Lex."

--- "You said you needed something warm for wherever you're taking me—"

Sam made a T sign with her hands.

--- "Whoa, wait a minute. Where in the world do you think you're going in the middle of a snowstorm?"

--- "None of your business."

Mac stepped in to clarify Alexis' statement.

--- "Actually, she doesn't know; it's a surprise."

Sam looked from the man, back to her mother.

--- "Call me crazy, but I could've sworn that you're all but kept Krissy, Mol, and me prisoner here?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Yes, I am. And I expect that you will be here when I get back—"

Sam attempted to argue with her mother, but Alexis gave her a threatening look which signified that she had no problems embarrassing her from there to eternity. The young woman put her hands up in defeat and went back to making the coffee for the group.

--- "That's my good girl."

Sam shook her head as Alexis smiled and looked at Jason; he was quite uncomfortable standing in the woman's kitchen, with the police commissioner glaring at him. She passed her hand on his sleeve.

--- "Jason, that's a nice jacket."

He nodded his head without saying a word. She looked at the lining on the coat as he continued to stand as still as stone.

--- "Is this warm?"

He gave her a strange look.

--- "I guess, why?"

Sam turned around to witness the odd exchange between her mother and the man she loved.

--- "Um, why are you asking him about his coat? It's not like you're going to wear it—"

She did not like the smile that crossed her mother's lips.

--- "Actually—"

Jason shook his head.

--- "No."

Alexis stuck out her bottom lip.

--- "Oh come on! Don't be a spoiled sport, Jason. Mac just needs—"

Sam felt it was her place to interrupt at that moment.

--- "I'm with Jason on this, Mom. Whatever weird fantasy you two are about to turn to reality—"

--- "Fantasy?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Yea. Some biker chick in the woods finding herself getting pumped with some macho hunter's bullets."

Mac raised his eyebrows and stared at the girl for a moment; he wasn't sure if she had made up that story, or whether it was one of her fantasies with Jason; either way, he was not too keen on finding out.

--- "It's not like that Sam. I just want to take your mother someplace and I'd like to do it without the motley crew in the living room finding out we've gone anywhere."

--- "So you need Jason's coat?"

Alexis nodded, while Mac scowled; he had no interest in wearing a hitman's jacket.

--- "As long as it doesn't have blood on it or anything."

Jason, who had begun taking the jacket off, put it back on at Mac's comment.

--- "I wouldn't want to incriminate myself—"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Oh come on, Jason; Diane's in the living room! It's not like she won't get you off."

--- "MOM!"

Alexis sighed and shook her head. She had no idea why the two were remotely shocked; it was not as though Diane had never gotten the man off crimes before. She walked over to Sam, hoping to speak to her out of the hearing range of the two men.

---"Sam, please. Weren't you the one who was saying that you want me to find a real bull instead of the mechanical kind?"

Either Alexis was not a soft enough spoken person, or both Mac and Jason's hearing was excellent; the immediately became uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. Sam, on the other hand, oblivious to the increased level of discomfort in the room, and naturally a soft-spoken person, continued the conversation.

--- "Mom, I do, but using Jason's jacket as an appetizer—"

--- "It's not an appetizer."

Sam put her hands on her hips and stared at her mother.

--- "Well then what is it?"

Alexis thought for a moment, as Mac stared at her, almost eager to hear her response. He wondered whether or not the women thought that their double entendres were actually subtle, because he certainly understood what they were insinuating. In fact, by the looks of it, Jason was on the same page as Mac; he was highly disgusted. The women continued their conversation without any regard to the men's presence in the room.

--- "Sam, I don't know. We'll see if there's even a full course meal in this. Right now, I just want to go for drinks."

She leaned into her mother and smiled.

--- "Drinks, huh? Sounds to me like you're going for a nice creamy cup of—"

Alexis reddened and pulled her daughter out of the room while embarrassingly smiling at the men who had not actually heard Sam's comment.

--- "Gentlemen, stay right there; we'll be right back!"

She dragged Sam into her room.

--- "Are you trying to embarrass me Samantha? What the hell was that about?"

Sam smiled at her mother before bending down to steal a strawberry from what she assumed was her mother's unfinished plate; she was careful to keep her bottom out of reach.

--- "What?"

Alexis crossed her arms and stared at the girl.

--- "Look, I'm fine with your crazy remarks when it's just us, or Diane, but in front of Mac and Jason?!"

Sam waved her hand dismissively at her mother.

--- "This is your plate, right?"

When her mother nodded, Sam took it and sat on the bed; having been sick the night before, she was finding that she was quite hungry.

--- "Mom, neither of them heard anything I said. But anyway, let's talk about where you're gong! What the hell is up with you going out in the middle of a blizzard? You yelled at me for skinny dipping—"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "And yet you're the one who managed to get sick from it. Now, I don't know what Mac's plan is, but what I do know is that he says that we need to break the ice, and talk about something other than our annoying brats—"

--- "HEY!"

She laughed and stole a strawberry from her own plate that her daughter was clearly enjoying.

--- "Well, it's true! And the other thing we talk about is our work. I don't think we really have ever had a chance to find out anything about each other outside of those two topics. So, my sour patch kid, you're going to convince the Terminator in my kitchen to let go of his jacket for an hour, so I can enjoy myself."

--- "Fine."

Sam finished eating and put the plate back on the floor. Alexis crossed her arms and looked at her daughter, causing the young woman to frown.

--- "What?"

She pointed to the empty dish she put on the floor.

--- "Excuse me, Captain Commando, but I'm thinking that since we're going into the kitchen, the empty dish could follow."

Sam picked the plate up and blushed at having been found out.

--- "Hey, maybe if you had stocked my room here with a few more things—"

Alexis wrapped her arm around her daughter as they walked back toward the kitchen.

--- "If you stayed here more often, aside from when I kidnap you, then I would."

She looked up at her mother.

--- "Fine. You've got a deal."

Alexis gave her on the cheek.

--- "Don't think about using your open facility to your advantage here."

Sam stopped dead in her tracks, just before they entered the kitchen.

--- "I'm not the one who's about to go immerse herself in thick white stuff."

Alexis poked her daughter in the side before pulling her into the kitchen.

--- "Go."

Sam smiled at her mother, all the while noticing the look in her mother's eyes, daring for her to deny the request; she would not have put it past her mother to reveal to everyone that she was going commando. She walked up to Jason and gave him a passionate kiss as a means of irking her mother's nerves and leveling the playing the field.

--- "Just do it."

Jason, however, was not pleased with Sam's acquiescence to her mother's desires.

--- "Sam, I don't think—"

Sam already knew what he was going to say.

--- "Jason, take your things out so Mac can't implicate you for anything."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "And that right there is why I don't want you with him! Look at you plotting and scheming so he doesn't pay for his crimes. Samantha—"

Sam cut her mother off.

--- "Do you want the jacket or not, Mom?"

Alexis looked to Mac; he sighed.

--- "Fine."

Jason looked at Sam, and began emptying his pockets. Sam ran to a cupboard and grabbed a ziplock bag.

--- "Here, put your stuff in here."

Mac smirked.

--- "How familiar that must be for you."

Alexis gave the man a squeeze of the arm, while smiling nervously at her daughter. Sam simply shook her head and handed the police commissioner her mob enforcer boyfriend's jacket.

* * *

Diane was shocked to see Molly strolling back into the living room after a mere few minutes in her mother's room.

--- "What in the world are you doing back here, little elf? You were supposed to spy—"

Kristina cleared her throat, causing Diane to retract her statement.

--- "Excuse, me; you were supposed to chaperone your mother and Mac. We want to ensure that no eggs get hatched in a few months."

Molly shrugged her shoulders as she started filling her plate with food.

--- "Mommy said to tell you that she'll make sure that Mac keeps the cap on the syrup. You know, Diane, that's weird, because she likes syrup all over her eggs, and if Mac keeps the cap on—"

Diane reached and took the young girl's hand into her own.

--- "Um, you know what? I think Alexis will realize how much better off she'll be without that stuff inside her."

Maxie, who was in the process of swallowing a piece of French Toast, began to choke. Mathieu was on the girl in an instant; with one good thrust, she felt a relief.

--- "Are you alright, Maxie?"

She took a sip of her water and nodded her head.

--- "Yes. Thank you! I think we should probably talk about something other than Mac and Alexis' meal?"

Kristina nodded in agreement, while making a face showing her disgust at Diane's choice in words.

--- "I have to agree. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would really appreciate the ability to continue to enjoy syrup on my eggs."

Diane pointed to the girl.

--- "See, that right there, is just nasty—"

Sam and Jason walked into the living room carrying the pot of freshly brewed coffee.

--- "What's nasty?"

Diane smiled at the sight of the coffee.

--- "God bless you Sam! And we're talking about your mother's love of syrup on her eggs."

Mathieu stood up to take the mugs from his daughter's hands before offering her his seat at the table. She smiled at the man before turning to Diane.

--- "Are we talking about syrup syrup, or syrup _SYRUP_?"

Molly frowned and put her silverware down.

--- "Wait—"

Everyone turned to the girl.

--- "NOTHING Molly!"

She was shocked by the response.

--- "Oooookay!"

Maxie put her fork down and wiped her mouth. She looked at the man whom no one knew anything about; she decided it was time for a question and answer session.

--- "How about we change the subject? Someone get Mathieu a chair; let's have a nice chat."

Kristina and Molly left the table to retrieve desk chairs from their rooms. Sam looked at her friend, who was smiling coyly in her direction. She looked up at her father who was already looking at her; it seemed that he did that often.

--- "Um, you know you don't have to answer anything they ask you, right?"

He made a contemplative face before leaning down and kissing her on the top of the head.

--- "I want you to get to know me, ma belle. If answering these women's question will help you with that, I'm willing to do it."

Diane clapped her hands excitedly.

--- "Great! I'll start—"

Jason, who had been quietly sitting on the couch annoyed that he was stuck in the house, especially since Mac was now sporting his jacket, looked over at his attorney.

--- "Don't you think you should let Sam ask her father some questions?"

Kristina and Molly walked back into the room with two chairs.

--- "Here you go, Mathieu."

He took the chair from Kristina and sat down beside his daughter.

--- "Thank you. I'll answer whatever question—"

Sam shook her head at her father; he clearly had not caught onto the fact that both Maxie and Diane had no problems asking the most inappropriate questions that came into their sick minds.

--- "I don't know you that well yet, Mathieu, and while I really would like to, I really don't think I want to know the answers to many of the questions those two will ask you if given the chance to ask whatever. I think for your privacy, my sanity, and my sisters' well being, you should given them a short leash."

Diane and Maxie looked almost disappointed at the bursting of their thought bubbles.

--- "You're no fun, Sam!"

Diane pursed her lips and crossed her arms like a child.

--- "Indeed."

Sam shrugged.

--- "Sorry, girls!"

Diane stuck her tongue out at the young woman, before turning her attention back to Mathieu.

--- "Okay, fine; I'll be good. Let's see… Have you ever been married?"

He shook his head.

--- "No I haven't."

Molly smiled at him.

--- "Do you have any other kids?"

--- "As a matter of fact, I have several—"

Diane laughed.

--- "Well, aren't you potent."

He laughed aloud with everyone, except the littlest Davis, who was of course, out of the loop.

--- "I think I'm beginning to understand your interesting jokes. I was joking! Samantha is my only child."

It was Kristina's turn to ask a question.

--- "Do you still live in France?"

This was a question that he was not exactly sure he wanted to answer without Alexis being present, but seeing as he said he would answer whatever it was, within reason, they questioned him about, he felt obliged.

--- "As a matter of fact, Kristina, as of two weeks ago, I did. I came here for a medical conference, but then I was offered a position at General Hospital as the head of the Immunology Department. I wasn't sure if I would take it, but when I saw Samantha and your mother, I knew I had to."

Sam smiled; she thought that her father would soon leave for France, and she would not see him for some time. She liked that idea of him being local. She had never before had two parents who actually cared about her; this was an exciting change. She elbowed him slightly.

--- "Wow, I have to say that I'm really happy to hear that. I was wondering how long you were in town for, but I didn't want to ask. Now that you're local, I guess we can really get to know each other."

He took her hand into his.

--- "Yes, my belle. But, I would still like to take you, your sisters, and your mother to France, one day."

He was clearly under the premise that he would reconnect with Alexis; he did not feel that Mac was any form of competition to what he and his love had shared and continue to share.

Maxie frowned at him. She was tired of seeing her father single, and while she had not been on board with him dating, or being remotely interest in Alexis, she warmed up to the idea when she realized that he truly did like the woman. Maxie, therefore was not going to let her father go down without a fight.

--- "Where did you go after leaving Alexis high and dry?"

He was somewhat taken aback by the question.

--- "Maxie, I did not leave Alexandra; I was taken from her, and she was taken from me, by our parents. If I could go back right now and change what happened, I assure you that I would. There was nothing that hurt me worse than leaving her and our baby girl. My goodness, I only found out last night that she not only lost me, but Samantha—"

Having not spoken to Sam before suddenly showing up at the lake house, Maxie was stunned by Mathieu's ignorance concerning Sam's adoption.

--- "Wait, so for all those years, you didn't know Sam was being raised by con artists, and that she was one for like years, up until she came to Port Charles? I mean she really was—"

She stopped once she noticed the stunned looks on everyone's faces. Most of all she noticed the look of upset in Sam's eyes. She could not believe how deep she had stuck her foot into her mouth.

--- "Oh Sam! I'm so sorry."

Sam's faced turned bright red. This was not the way that she wanted her father to find out about her past. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes before getting up from the table and rushing toward her room.

Maxie went to move to run after the girl, but Diane pulled her back into her seat before turning to Kristina and Molly.

--- "Other than the current influx of syrup, your mother wouldn't happen to have Pepto in this house? I think this one here might want to choke on it as she controls the diarrhea that's clearly coming out of her mouth."

Maxie covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head in disbelief at how she had completely embarrassed her best friend.

--- "I can't believe I did that."

Diane took a sip of her coffee and looked at the apologetic girl.

--- "Hmm, perhaps you should consider keeping your mouth covered at all times; maybe that way, the crap that comes out is on you, not someone else. Now, who's going to go after her? This isn't exactly my territory."

Mathieu looked down at his hands. His heart was broken over the fact that his daughter had had a difficult life. He wanted to talk to her about it; the problem was that he didn't know how to approach the situation. Nonetheless, he stood up and began walking out of the living room.

--- "I think I should speak to her."

Jason stopped him.

--- "No, I think you should give her some space. I know you want to help her, but that was a difficult part of her life, and a part that she isn't exactly proud of; just give her some space."

--- "But, I need to tell her that I love her regardless of her past."

--- "I know you do, but that's not going to help her right now. She's been through a lot. She needs to sort through everything; she'll come to you when she's ready. Please, just leave her alone for now."

While Mathieu was not exactly trusting of the man his daughter clearly loved, it was not only evident that he knew Sam well, but he obviously loved her deeply. Mathieu sighed and retook his seat.

--- "Okay. I guess you would know better than me. So who should check on her?"

Kristina stood up.

--- "I'll get our Mom—"

Jason shook his head. He had a feeling that since Mac took his coat, neither he nor Alexis wanted anyone to know that they had left.

--- "No, don't do that—"

Although he wanted to go to her, he knew that with the girls wanting to get Alexis, it would have been better to allow them to stay with their sister, while he was able to ensure that no one crossed the living room toward Alexis' bedroom, where she and Mac were supposed to be.

--- "Why don't you two go speak with her? I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

Kristina was not exactly sure why Jason would suggest that she and Molly go speak to their sister about a past that she never spoke to them about, but she nodded her head and took Molly out of the room.

Diane looked at her client suspiciously; there was clearly something that he knew that he was not revealing. She decided that she would get him to spill what he knew when she found an opening.

Jason then turned to Maxie, giving the already remorseful woman, an icy glare.

--- "Why would you do that? You really need to learn how to control your mouth, Maxie!"

The young woman shook her head.

--- "I'm sorry! It just slipped."

Diane pursed her lips.

--- "Now, that's an excuse that never works. Try again."

* * *

Alexis looked at Mac as though he had lost his mind.

--- "Okay, so it was obvious you were taking me out in the middle of a blizzard, which to me is crazy enough. Granted, I don't know which is crazier, the fact that you've taken me out in a blizzard, or the fact that I agreed, but nonetheless here I am. Now, you want to play in this crap?"

He bent down, packed a snowball and held it in his hand.

--- "Yes."

She noticed that he was holding the snowball in his hand in a threatening fashion.

--- "Malcolm Scorpio, you need to put that snowball down! I'm not playing in the snow."

As she turned to leave, he threw and hit her in the back of the head with the snowball; she was shocked.

--- "I can't believe you did that."

He packed another one.

--- "Well, fight back!"

He threw it at her. This time Alexis ducked and quickly began to, despite the clear visibility problems, throwing snow at him.

--- "What the hell was that, Lex?"

She stood up frowned at him.

--- "What?"

He walked over to her with the snowball in his hand.

--- "What you were throwing! You were just picking up snow and throwing it at me—"

--- "So?"

He stared at her incredulously.

--- "So?! Lex, have you EVER been in a snowball fight?"

She shook her head.

--- "Mac, I grew up in a stuffy castle in the middle of a tiny island of Greece where it rarely snowed. I was hardly allowed to speak in the house, let alone play. Could you have imagined Helena's face if I had even attempted to play in any snow that may have come down on the island?"

He had somehow forgotten that Helena basically raised her, well, in Helena's own way, that is. When he looked at Alexis, a law-abiding citizen, it was difficult to imagine that a homicidal maniac such as Helena would have had any hand in her upbringing.

--- "So what about when you came here?"

Alexis scoffed as she allowed Mac to show her how to properly pack a snowball.

--- "Are you kidding me? I was an attorney, who was working predominantly for my brother. God, I loved Stefan, but he was quite formal. Throwing snowballs wasn't exactly his type of thing."

Mac shook his head.

--- "And with the girls?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Look, I've gotten used to the fact that snow is a part of nature; not something to be played with. The girls have always had Sam to go out with and throw snowballs at each other; it's not something that every really interested me. I guess as Sam says, I'm a stuffy Cassadine—"

--- "She does not say that!"

Alexis laughed and rolled her eyes as she made a rather large snowball.

--- "Please! My daughter thinks I need to loosen up; I think she's right. But I have to admit, Mac, snowball fights aren't exactly my cup of tea. But I certainly didn't think that you were the snowball type."

He smiled at her.

--- "Well, I'm full of surprises, Lex! I mean, I actually had a normal upbringing, and a brother who before he became a superspy, was a regular kid. So, we did things like this. We actually were pretty bad."

She continued to pack her snowball.

--- "Malcolm Scorpio, bad? I don't believe it."

He nodded.

--- "I'm serious. There was this one kid who used to bully one of my friends all of the time. So one day, when it was snowing pretty hard, I decided to teach him a lesson."

--- "What did you do?"

Mac smiled and packed his snowball.

--- "Well, I made sure to have thick gloves on, packed a yellow snowball, with a little present in the middle, then I threw it at him."

Alexis stood staring at the man for a moment allowing what he had just said to settle in.

--- "I'm sorry, but did you just say that you throw a urine filled snowball, with chocolate filling, at a kid."

He laughed.

--- "Right in his face."

She shook her head in absolute shock.

--- "I cannot believe you did that. What did he say?!"

Mac remained quiet for a moment, almost embarrassed to tell her. She poked him.

--- "Come on, what did he say?"

--- "He beat the crap out of me; he was a fairly large kid."

Alexis laughed at the man.

--- "Oh my God! That was brilliantly stupid!"

Considering the incident had happened so long ago, he found that he was able to laugh about it.

--- "Well, that was my childhood."

As he bent down to pack some more snow, Alexis figured she would get into the spirit of loosening up; she dropped the large snowball she had packed onto his head. He looked up at her in shock.

--- "I thought you weren't a snowball fight kind of person?"

She quickly packed some more and threw them at him, as he did the same.

--- "I'm not, but I'm a Cassadine after all! And seeing as you hit me with quite a few of your balls, I have to defend my honor and name!"

Before they knew it, they were in an all-out snowball fight in the middle of a blizzard. The two were laughing and enjoying themselves until they were out of breath.

When they finally stopped, Mac grabbed Alexis by the hand.

--- "Let's go for a walk."

She yanked her hand from his.

--- "Alright, now I REALLY think you're nuts. It's about twenty degrees out here, with a windchill of about ten—"

--- "And yet here we are playing in the snow."

She shook her head.

--- "Yea, but my house is right here. I can go in right now if I wanted to. If we go for a walk, we'll freeze and STILL have to walk back. That's okay."

He shrugged.

--- "Are you cold?"

Alexis looked at him as though he had several heads.

---"Did you miss my weather update Mac? Yea, I think it's a safe bet to say that I'm cold. It is about twenty degrees out here."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys.

--- "Well then, let's go for a walk to my car."

--- "We're not going for a drive—"

--- "Lex, no! I figure we can talk some more. I love hearing about your childhood—"

She smacked him on the chest.

--- "You're not trying to get me into your warm car and make-out with me, are you Malcolm Scorpio?"

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

--- "Nope, Alexis; I could do that right here. I just want to sit someplace where I know we won't be interrupted by our kids, or friends, or—"

--- "Ex-fiancés."

Mac scowled at the Mathieu's mention.

--- "Or that."

Alexis smiled at him and nodded.

--- "Okay, but I have to at least tell Sam where we're going in case of an emergency."

He nodded; he loved how concerned she was as a parent. Most people would call her overprotective and overbearing, but seeing as he was the same way with his girls, he could not fault her.

--- "And that's why I like you, Lex."

She smiled at him as she made her way to the back door.

* * *

Kristina and Molly walked into Sam's room to find her lying on her bed in tears.

--- "Hey Sam."

She never liked to have her sisters see her cry, especially Molly, so she quickly wiped her face.

--- "What are you two doing in here?"

Molly lied down beside her.

--- "We thought you would feel better if you talked to us."

Sam sat up and looked at her two sisters. She knew that Kristina was unaware of a lot of the things that she had been through and a lot of the things that she had done in the past, but as far as she was concerned, Molly was in the dark about her past.

--- "Um, Mol, I really don't think I'm in the mood to talk about those things with you two. I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern."

Kristina sat down on the other side of her sister.

--- "You know, Sam, you don't have to be ashamed to talk to us about things that you've done in the past. I mean, aren't you the one who's always telling us to talk to you?"

--- "Sure, but I'm the adult and the big sister. I'm sorry, Krissy, but you two are kids, and quite frankly, I shouldn't be talking to you about certain things I've done."

Molly rolled her eyes.

--- "Well, may I make an observation?"

Sam looked at her sister.

--- "Okay, Mol."

Molly cleared her throat before looking at Kristina, then back to Sam.

--- "I don't know what's going on, or what you did in the past because I was either not born yet, or was just a kid—"

Kristina smiled.

--- "You're still a kid, Mol."

--- "True, but that's beside the point. Sure, there's never been a time when I didn't know you were my sister, Sam, but I know that you had a difficult life before you and Mommy found each other. I also know that you've been through a lot of things in your life. But, isn't that what has happened in most people's lives? Nobody is perfect. A lot of people do things that they're not proud of, and I'm sure that I'll do the same when I get older—"

Sam took her youngest sister's hand into her own.

--- "I hope not—"

Molly nodded.

--- "But I will, Sam. And I don't think you'll stop loving me because of it, right?"

Sam gave her sister a hug and kiss.

--- "I could never stop loving you, Mol."

Molly smiled and pointed to her other sister who remained quiet.

--- "Look at Kristina; she ran Claudia off the road and killed her baby brother. Uncle Sonny forgave her, and loves her the same. So does Mommy."

Kristina hit her sister on the foot.

--- "Thanks Mol! Not my proudest moment."

Molly kicked her sister.

--- "Don't hit, monkeybutt. That was my point! Sam's afraid that whatever she may have done in the past, Mathieu won't love her for, but if he's a good father and loves her as much as he seems to, it won't matter."

Kristina gave her sister's foot a squeeze.

--- "As much as I hate to admit it, Sam, but she's right. Mom, Mol, and I love you regardless of everything. And considering the fact that I've obviously made a life-altering mistake, and you went after me when I ran away, and Mom took the responsibility for it, neither you nor Mom, at least I don't think you do, love or think of me any less."

Sam could not believe that her two younger sisters were sitting there comforting her. She nodded her head and got up from the bed and held her arms out to them; the girls went into the embrace.

--- "I love you girls so much. Thank you for that."

Kristina looked at her sister.

--- "So, are you ready to go back out there and talk to your father?"

Sam sighed.

--- "Um, I think I'd rather have this conversation with him in private."

Molly pouted.

--- "So we're shut out of the good stuff!"

Sam kissed her sister on the top of the head.

--- "I wouldn't exactly call what we're about to discuss 'good stuff,' Mol. But, I tell you what? I promise I'll let you know how it turns out, okay?"

Both Molly and Kristina held out their pinkies. Sam took either one with each of her own pinkies. They kissed their hands and spit.

--- "I swear. Now, can you please tell Mathieu to come in here?"

The girls nodded and made their way to the door, however, as they opened it, they heard a pained scream.

* * *

**Are we still split on MacLexis and MatLex? Don't worry, you'll get more MatLex alone time.**

**Also, are my chapters too long? Weird question, I'm sure, but plausible. Are they long to the point of becoming overwhelming?**


	23. Protection

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY **FAVORITE** DEMON!!! I hope everything you wanted is in this, if not, well, I'll add it to the upcoming chaps! K?

Not ENTIRELY Edited… I've got to get UMR up as well… Stay tuned!

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Protection**

Before reaching the door, Alexis turned back to Mac. She did not know when her feelings for him arose, or what exactly they were; she simply knew that she enjoyed spending time with him.

--- "You know, Mac, I had a really good time. This is nothing like me, but I haven't had this much fun in a very long time. Thank you."

He looked at her with her hair hidden under a hat she had found in Kristina's room, and her nose red from the cold; he was astounded at how beautiful she looked in such an uncharacteristic way.

--- "You're very welcome, Lex. I enjoyed this as well. Believe it or not, I haven't played in the snow since that night—"

Alexis laughed again at the imagery from the story.

--- "Well, I can't say I blame you! I mean, why would anyone want to play in snow again after getting beat up for throwing a urine soaked feces filled snowball at the school bully! You would've been pretty stupid to not have learned your lesson!"

Mac shook his head.

--- "I thought I was protecting my friend! Don't I get points for that?"

Alexis shrugged before smiling at him.

--- "I guess so. I suppose you get an A for effort."

--- "That's all I ask!"

She smiled at him before quietly unlocking the door leading to Sam's part of the house.

--- "Now, make sure you don't say a word Mac, I don't want anyone realizing that we've left, or that we're going back out again."

As she went to step into the house, she slipped on an icy patch and twisted her ankle. She screamed out in pain.

--- "Son of a bitch!"

--- "Oh my God, Lex! Come on, let me help you."

Mac immediately attempted to help her up, but she screamed out in more pain, which caused everyone in the house to run to the direction of the noise. Sam, along with Kristina and Molly, were the first at the scene.

--- "Mom, are you okay? What the hell happened?!"

She sat on the ground holding her ankle.

--- "Unfortunately, sweetheart, when it snows, there's a high likelihood of ice. And when that happens, your mother, who was silly enough to play outside, managed to slip and fall and mess up her ankle."

Molly was astounded.

--- "You were playing in the snow, Mommy? I thought you hated it?"

She pointed to her ankle and smiled weakly at her daughter.

--- "And this, baby, would be the reason why."

The rest of the group ran to the back door to see what the commotion was all about. Diane shook her head when she saw her best friend on the floor cradling her ankle.

--- "Lex, I never pegged you for the Damsel in Distress. Somebody, get her off the ground and close the door; there simply aren't any ingredients in this house to make the cookie dough to accommodate the amount of chocolatish chips that are about to freeze and fall off our bodies. Oh my God, Lex, do you have any cream? Well I suppose we've an increased supply here—"

Alexis was in too much pain to be able to tolerate Diane's sick jokes.

--- "Di, seriously?!"

The woman shrugged.

--- "Sorry Lex, but I figured we could make cannolis—"

Sam pinched Diane's arm.

--- "Will you stop it?!"

Diane grimaced at the woman whose ice cream maker was standing in the room with her.

--- "Sure, easy for you to say! You've got your everlasting creamcicle right here!"

Sam rolled her eyes at the obviously horny woman.

--- "You know what Diane, why don't you call Max over here, and tell him to sit in the snow for a few minutes, I'm sure he'll be useful to you for a bit… you know, at least until he thaws out."

The sassy attorney pointed her finger at Sam, but Mathieu stopped the two from arguing.

--- "I'm sorry to stop your [ahem] informative conversation, ladies, but can we turn the attention back to Alexandra? Now, can someone help me—"

Maxie pushed Jason forward.

--- "You're used to carrying dead bodies and dumping them random places, why don't you—"

Mathieu turned in shock to look at the girl before looking from Jason to Sam.

--- "What kind of coffee importer are you? You carry dead bodies? Are you some kind of hitman?"

The group once again, including Mac in slight amusement, stared at the girl. Diane smiled and laughed nervously.

--- "ALLEGEDLY! Now, if you'll excuse us."

She pulled her from the hall towards kitchen.

--- "I swear, we're either going to find you some Pepto for that mouth, or a pacifier. Either way, you're not going to have much to say for the next few hours."

Maxie rolled her eyes as she allowed the woman to take her away from the group.

--- "Yea, you clearly aren't looking for something hard for your own mouth, Diane."

Alexis cleared her throat so the attention returned to her, instead of on the man she felt had no business dating her daughter.

--- "Excuse me, but can someone get me up. This might seem rather ironic to my girls, but I think the fall has resulted in a bruise on a place I'd prefer not discuss, and this hard ground is not conducive to it. So, can someone please help me up?"

Mac and Mathieu seemed to push each other out of the way so that they might be the one to help the woman from the floor, but Sam used her two fingers to whistle for attention from the men.

--- "If you two insist on fighting, take it someplace else. Jason, can you please carry her to her room?"

Jason quickly and easily lifted the injured woman from the ground and brought her to her room on the other side of the house as Sam, Kristina, Molly, Mac and Mathieu followed. He gently placed her on the bed, and quickly walked out; he was not comfortable being in his girlfriend's mother's bedroom.

Sam bit her lip as she took the boots from her mother's feet, and lifted her leg onto the pillow Kristina had placed for her. Now that her father was in the room looking at her, she quickly grew uncomfortable.

--- "Um, I'm going to get you some ice."

Alexis, knowing her daughters like the back of her hand, and through her ankle pain could tell that something was bothering her eldest daughter. When she looked at her two younger daughters, she noticed that they were staring from Sam to Mathieu; she immediately knew that whatever was upsetting her daughter, it had something to do with her father.

--- "Sam—"

She noticed tears in her daughter's pleading eyes.

--- "Um, can you get me a bottle of water?"

She nodded her head indicating to her daughter that she should take her time to compose herself.

--- "Sure, Mom."

Sam quietly left the room, grateful that her mother realized her increased discomfort as not only were her sisters obvious about the tension between she and her father, but Mathieu appeared to be splitting his concern between her mother and her; his stares were burning a hole into her forehead. While she wanted to speak to him about her past, she could not help but feel embarrassed around him. She knew that what Molly had said was right, and although she did not know much about the man, she knew enough to help her realize that he truly cared about her.

Mathieu figured that now was as better time as ever to speak to Alexis about what he had discovered about Sam. He cleared his throat.

--- "If you all will please leave the room for a few minutes so that I can examine Alexandra."

Mac scoffed.

--- "Examine Alexis? You're looking at her foot."

Mathieu smirked at the man. It astounded him how such a man could possibly be someone Alexis would like.

--- "I'm sorry, but when you passed the donut eating contest, did you also become a connoisseur of the human body? I believe that the lady said that she might have bruised herself; I'm sure that she'll appreciate an examination."

Alexis interjected as Kristina and Molly, who were seated on the bed beside her, snickered to themselves.

--- "I'm sorry, Mati, but in regard to my bruised bottom, I'm perfectly capable checking that out myself; there certainly is no reason to have an embarrassing examination of the type—"

Mac smiled at the man.

--- "Yes, I'm sure you heard the lady."

Mathieu wanted to smack the smile off of the man's face.

--- "Alexandra, there's nothing to be embarrassed about; I've seen—"

She covered her youngest daughter's ears while glaring at the man.

--- "I'm sorry, but that was a VERY long time ago. Anyway, in regard to my ankle, I will allow you to look at that. Now, Krissy, Mol, and Mac, can you please give me a few moments?"

Both girls began to protest; they had a feeling that their mother was going to speak to Mathieu about Sam and they wanted concrete details.

--- "Mommy, we always take care of you when you're sick!"

--- "Yea Mom, and what's so private about your ankle? We've seen you looking worse!"

She rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "Thank you Kristina. You may now leave."

Molly stuck her tongue out at her sister and attempted to suck up to her mother.

--- "Mommy, I think you're always pretty!"

Alexis gave her youngest daughter a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Aren't you sweet, but why don't you go take a shower? Aren't you tired of being in your pajamas?"

Molly shook her head.

--- "No. I like being in my pajamas. They're comfortable."

Alexis pursed her lips; considering how much the girl was fighting to be in the room, it was evident that she had missed something significant. She tapped her youngest daughter's leg so that she could get off of the bed.

--- "You know what honey, it's rude to walk around in pajamas and unbathed in front of company—"

Molly pouted slightly as she stood beside her sister.

--- "It's rude to show up unannounced, and yet here most of them are."

Kristina decided to try her hand at being allowed to hear the conversation.

--- "Mom, you know, Molly and I share a bathroom, so maybe I should just shower here?"

Molly punched her sister in the arm.

--- "You're such a traitor! You just want to hear them talk about Sam!"

--- "Says the girl who made sure to try and gain cool points with her by telling her she looks pretty all the time!"

Alexis cleared her throat.

--- "Molly, no hitting. Kristina, you have the option of waiting for Molly, IN YOUR ROOM, to finish showering, or using Sam's bathroom. I don't care which option you choose, the only thing is that neither of you are staying here. Now, I don't want to say this again, but you two need to leave."

Kristina and Molly begrudgingly left the room as Mac and Mathieu laughed to themselves at how amusing Alexis' household was. For both men, this was a different side of the woman, a side neither had ever seen.

In Mac's case, while he had known her for years, he never spent such time in her household to see her truly interact with her daughters, and them interact with her; he smiled at the way her personality brightened when they were in the room. Mac felt the same way about his girls. He appreciated that Alexis knew where he was coming from when he spoke about Robin and Maxie; much like Sam, Kristina, and Molly were the lights of her life, his girls meant the same to him.

For Mathieu, on the other hand, this was how he envisioned his life with Alexis and Sam, and hopefully children Kristina and Molly's ages. His thoughts about the scene he had just witnessed were those of regret over opportunities lost and stolen from him. As he looked at Kristina and Molly, he almost imagined Sam at their age. He could just see her as equally precocious as Molly, and sassy as Kristina. Although he knew he would never get those moments, he simply enjoyed capturing them with a different lens.

Alexis looked over at Mac and smiled apologetically.

--- "Mac, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave as well."

He nodded his head and walked over to her; he gave her kiss on the top of the head.

--- "Don't think that this is over, Lex. Just because we can't sit in the car and listen to music and chat, doesn't mean we can't do the same here. I'll be back."

She smiled at him.

--- "I would hope so."

* * *

Sam's face burned as she walked out of her mother's room. She wanted to go speak to Jason, but Maxie walked out of the kitchen just as she was walking passed.

--- "Hi Sam."

Sam rolled her eyes and continued on to the living room, but the younger girl grabbed her by the arm.

--- "Sam, I'm sorry!"

She scoffed.

--- "Yes you are, Maxie. You seem to have a way to run your mouth about everything concerning everyone else, but for whatever reason the faucet stops running when it's your real business."

Maxie had no real answer for her best friend. She knew that she was wrong in blabbing not one, but two personal details about Sam's life that she had no business revealing.

--- "Look, you're right. You're completely right about it all. I'm selfish and I know it. I'm a loud mouth; I know that too. The only thing I can do is say that I'm sorry. I don't know what happens between my brain and my mouth, but things just come shooting out like a messy hose."

Diane stepped out of the kitchen holding an opaque cup.

--- "Well, I know one hose that isn't working—"

Sam took one look at the woman, grabbed the cup from her hand and took a sip.

--- "Diane! It's nine in the morning! What in the world is wrong with you?!"

She grabbed her cup back from the young woman.

--- "Excuse me, don't judge me! This is juice!"

--- "Yea, of the fermented kind, you wino!"

Diane took a sip from her drink.

--- "You know what, Samantha—"

--- "Sam—"

--- "WHATEVER. It's five o'clock in the country from which this loveliness came, and considering that we're stuck here for a while—"

Jason walked into the hall to join the ladies.

--- "Actually, I'm not—"

Sam was shocked.

--- "WHAT? You can't leave!"

He held up his phone.

--- "Business—"

Maxie laughed.

--- "Ha, you've got another grav—"

The three others stared at her; there was nothing that would keep the girl's mouth shut. She blushed.

--- "Sorry! I'm working on it! It takes time!"

Jason stared at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Sam.

--- "I'm sorry, but I really have to go."

--- "Well, I'm going too."

Sam moved toward the living room, but Jason grabbed her.

--- "No, Sam. You need to stay here and talk to your father."

She did not want to face her father in light of her past actions and now, with regard to Jason's 'occupation,' but she knew she did not have much of a choice. If she left, her mother would undoubtedly come after her regardless of her twisted ankle. She did not want to deal with Alexis in that scenario.

--- "Fine."

Jason gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

--- "I'll be back, okay? I'll bring lunch and dinner."

Diane pursed her lips at her client.

--- "As long as the meat you bring is of the animal species, and NOT the alleged human kind… unless of course it's Max holding a very large—"

It was Diane's turn to be stared at. She waved a dismissive hand at the group.

--- "I said ALLEGED!"

She shook her head and walked back into the kitchen, dragging Maxie with her.

Sam pressed her head to Jason's chest.

--- "You're leaving me here with these people?"

He lifted her head to face him. He did not want to leave, but he received an urgent call from Carly. He figured that he would take the time to go see her as a means of having a break from the lunacy in his girlfriend's mother's house. In addition, knowing that the house was lacking in food, he thought it best that he would pick up something for them all before Diane ate everyone first, starting with the men, of course.

--- "Look, go hide in your room, take a long bath—"

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Clearly you don't know my mother and sisters and their inability to get a clue in regard to privacy."

He kissed her once again on the lips.

--- "I love you, Sam."

Despite her problems, she could not help but love hearing those words coming from his lips.

--- "I love you too, Jason."

With that, he was gone.

* * *

When Mac left she looked at the man she had loved so many years ago. It astounded her how much he was still able to make her heart beat to what seemed like a well-timed love song. It seemed too good to be true that the man was standing in front of her. So many years had already passed between them, and she was not yet sure if they had anything in common outside of their connection to their daughter. Nonetheless, Alexis was happy that he was in her life if but for Sam.

She attempted not to wince in pain as he looked at her ankle. She decided that now was as good as any to speak to him about what was clearly bothering her eldest daughter.

As no one was around, she spoke to him in French.

--- "So, what's going on Mati?"

He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.

--- "Well, your ankle appears to be twisted. You should be fine in the next few days."

She put his hand over his; she realized that Sam's deflection of obvious questions came from him, while her tendency to ramble was definitely inherited from her.

--- "Mati, what happened to our daughter?"

He covered his mouth for a moment before looking at her.

--- "Alexandra, why didn't you tell me that she had such a difficult life? Con artists raised her? She was herself was a con-artist?"

Her heart sank; someone had let Sam's past out of the bag. This explains her daughter's subdued attitude.

--- "Oh God. Mathieu, I wanted to tell you, but honestly, it isn't my past to tell. Sam was and is, actually, afraid that if you find out about some of the things that she's done in the past that you would lose respect for her and no longer want to get to know her. Even worse, she feels as though you might not love her—"

He shook his head.

--- "I already love her. How could I not? I fell in love with our daughter from the moment she kicked me in mouth the day you and I decided we would run away together."

Alexis smiled at him as the memory flooded her thoughts and her doorframe.

--- "Mati, I know this, but perhaps I'm not the one you should be telling this to."

She pointed her chin toward the door; Sam was standing there with a bottle of water, and Diane beside her holding a bottle of wine.

Mathieu looked at his daughter and smiled. He walked over to her, gave her a kiss on the side of the head, took her by the hand and led her to her mother's bed; Alexis painfully scooted over to allow her daughter to sit beside her.

Diane smiled.

--- "Aw, isn't this sweet."

She began making herself comfortable on the chair Mathieu had previously occupied, while opening the bottle she had in her hand. Alexis looked at her best friend.

--- "Uh, Di—"

The woman looked at the three people, Mathieu who was staring at a clearly nervous Sam, and Alexis who gave her a knowing stare. She stuck her bottom lip out as she placed the wine bottle down.

--- "This is totally unfair Lex! The way I'm feeling right now, you might not want to send me into that warm and toasty living room with a man who speaks softly and carries a big stick!"

Alexis reached over her daughter to smack the woman.

--- "DIANE!"

--- "I'm sorry Lex, but at this point, I think sitting on a washing machine would turn me on."

She snapped her fingers and smiled.

--- "As a matter of fact, I'll allow you all to have your family time, I think I'll make myself useful and throw a load or two into the wash."

She stood up and walked toward Alexis' bathroom.

--- "Your hamper is right over here, right?"

She noticed a large hamper filled with clothes; she immediately grew excited.

--- "Ah yes, this should keep me occupied for a few hours. Um, don't come looking for me, I'll reemerge when I'm good and ready. I think she spin cycle might have to be run a few times. Oh Max had a wonderful move—"

Alexis threw her pillow at the woman. It was evident that she either failed to realize that Mathieu was still standing in the room as she was going through her fantasies, or she was drunk; whatever it was, the pillow took her out of her trance. She blushed as she noticed Mathieu's amused look.

--- "Oh, I was just joking! HAHAHA!"

She whispered in pig latin to her best friend.

--- "Etergent-day is-ay in-ay—"

Alexis rolled her eyes at the woman.

--- "YES! And make sure to use the gentle cycle on my undies. Thanks!"

Diane smiled and walked out of the room somewhat mortified at her oversharing.

Alexis immediately turned her attention to her daughter.

--- "So, um, was she drunk?"

Sam looked at her mother and nodded her head.

--- "Yup."

Alexis wrapped her arm around her daughter and gave her a kiss on the side of the head. She whispered into her ear.

--- "Honey, I think its time."

Sam looked at her father who was staring back at her. She tried to keep her sisters' words in her head, but her defenses had shot up when she saw him; she did not want to allow herself to be vulnerable if they had been wrong about him and his supposed love for her. In was clearly evident that he knew nothing about her; he did not even know her to say that he loved her. Therefore, there was no real love lost between them if he decided that he did not want to have anything to do with her after learning about all of the horrible things she did to herself, to others, and most notably to her mother.

--- "So, I suppose you want to know everything?"

He shrugged and looked at Alexis who clearly noticed that her daughter had gotten defensive before anything was discussed; she gave him a nervous smile. He looked back at his daughter and stared her directly in the eyes.

--- "Samantha, I want to know whatever you're comfortable telling me. If you don't want to say anything, I'm fine with that as well."

--- "Okay."

Sam moved to get off the bed, but Alexis held firm to her arm; she was not going to allow her daughter to run away from her problems.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis struggled to pull her daughter back onto the bed.

--- "Samantha, my ankle is twisted, don't fight me."

--- "So will you stop fighting with me?"

She glared and hissed at her daughter.

--- "Honey, if you do not want me to use your pants as an anchor to get you back on this bed, I suggest you sit down. I'm sure that while you want a relationship with him, you don't need him seeing your cute little tushy."

Sam returned her mother's glare before adjusting her pants and defiantly sitting down beside her mother.

--- "Fine. Where to begin, Daddy?"

Mathieu was not sure how to handle his daughter's defensiveness.

--- "Samantha, I won't judge you. I love you. Just, talk to me… please."

She looked at the man for a moment; she wanted to believe that he was sincere, but she needed to be certain.

--- " Okay, would you care to know about the amount of times I got arrested for stealing cars? The time I conned several people in this town, including Mac's daughter Georgie, just so I could steal playing cards to win a fortune? Or how about this one, the fact that I slept with—"

Alexis grabbed her daughter's arm hard enough to cause her to wince in pain.

--- "Mom!"

Alexis spoke to Mathieu quietly and in French.

--- "Mati, step out please."

He noticed the look of anger in the woman's eyes, so he nodded his head and stepped out of the room.

Once he was out, Alexis released Sam's pained arm.

--- "Geez Mom! First you 'spank' me, now you damn near break my arm—"

Alexis pointed at her daughter.

--- "Shut up, Samantha."

Sam crossed her arms and leaned into the headboard. She noted the tone in her mother's voice; this was not the time for her to, even at twenty-nine, back talk.

--- "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you see that Mathieu wants to get to know you? He loves you. He wants to be a father to you—"

--- "I'm twenty-nine Mom, I think it's a bit late for that."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "That's not what you were saying yesterday or earlier this morning. Stop letting your fears about what people will think about you because of your past ruin your relationships with them before they're even started. You don't need to go into your sex life with him—"

Sam scoffed.

--- "What shouldn't he know this his daughter was like Grand Central Station? Or that a couple trains made the same stops into your obscure station? I mean really, shouldn't he know these things?"

Alexis closed her eyes, and began to count; she needed calm down. She hated that her daughter had so much emotional baggage. She wished that Sam could simply lose it as the years went by, but when it seemed as though she was finally letting certain things from her past go, she nevertheless picked up another set.

--- "Sam, those things are personal between you and me that happened in the past. I think even Maxie knows to not bring something like that up. If you want to bring up Lila, that's fine, but don't taint her memory by making her seem as the product of a lurid affair with your sister's father. My goodness, we didn't even know what we were to each other then."

Sam's heart hurt at the mention of her daughter. She never wanted to imply that her sweet baby was some kind of freak because Kristina and Molly would have been not only aunts to her, but sisters. She wiped a single tear from her face.

--- "And Ric?"

Alexis let out a deep breath.

--- "That's our past. I don't want to hear that being brought up? That's done and over with. It was a stupid and horrible thing that nearly broke us, but we made it through. Let's leave it in the past, okay?"

--- "Fine.

Sam grabbed the bottle of wine Diane left on the nightstand and attempted to drink from it, but Alexis took it from her.

--- "It's way too early in the morning for this."

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled at her mother; despite everything, it was not easy for her to stay upset around her. They had simply been through too much together.

--- "Maybe you might want to tell your friend that. She's not a good influence on me, whatsoever."

Alexis poked her daughter in the side and pulled her to her; she passed her fingers through her hair.

--- "Oh sweetheart, I really wish you would just stop judging yourself so harshly. Now, we're going to try this again, and I suggest you try to bring down the iron curtain. Give Mati a chance, I'm pretty you'll be surprised by his reaction. Honey, he wants to get to know you, the real you, flaws and all. If he loves you the way he says he does, what you've done previously doesn't matter."

Sam sighed and pulled away from her mother.

--- "And what about you?"

She frowned at her daughter.

--- "Honey, I think it's evident how much I love you."

--- "No, what about you and your feelings for Mathieu?"

Alexis bit her lip and looked at her daughter.

--- "Well, I think that's something I'm going to have to work through as I figure things out with Mac. I feel as though I'm being torn in two because honestly, I like them both. I have love in my heart for Mati, but it's an old love that never left. But, I've also space there for something new with Mac. I think time will tell if the old flame with Mati is just a flicker or a roaring fire. For now, I think I'm content with getting to know them both."

Alexis patted Sam's leg.

--- "Honey, I think it's time for you to go speak to your father."

Sam frowned at her mother. She was not sure that was a good idea; she was not ready to speak to the man alone about something so difficult. As strange as it may have sounded, but she wanted her mommy with her.

--- "Um, alone?"

She took the young woman's hand into hers and gave it a squeeze.

--- "As you keep reminding me, sweetheart: you're a grown woman. Now, go be grown."

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother as she got up from the bed.

--- "Yea, NOW you're allowing me to be grown. Every time before that, I'm Kristina's age."

Alexis corrected her.

--- "Molly's age, my gumdrop. And while you're out there, please send Mac back in; Mommy would like to finish her date."

Sam smiled evilly at her mother. She walked over to the dresser drawer and reached in the back. Alexis was mortified.

--- "Samantha, what are you doing?"

She laid the items on the dresser as she turned around to smile at her mother's reddened face.

--- "I just want to make sure my Mommy remembers the importance of having Mac wrap it up."

She walked toward the door as Alexis screamed after her.

--- "Samantha, come back here! I swear to you, you will not be able to walk straight for a week!"

She poked her head back into the room and smiled at her mother.

--- "Mommy, Jason left for a few hours, so no worries about that. Enjoy your date! And remember, in order to get a huge wave, you have to hold your surfboard! Okay?"

Alexis pointed a warning finger at her daughter.

--- "I'm warning you Samantha McCall, come back in here, RIGHT NOW!"

Sam winked at her mother before closing the door.

--- "Maaaaac! She's ready for you!"


	24. Promises, Pasts, and Comebacks

Because I made a promise to a few buddies to get a final chapter up before the New Year, here this is, written at the speed of light.

I hope it's good! If it isn't, I'll simply rewrite when I'm sobered up.

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Promises, Pasts, and Comebacks**

Sam laughed harder than she had in a long time as she closed her mother's door listening to her mother scream at her. She was well aware that she was going to pay dearly for what she did, but she needed a good laugh before speaking to her father.

As she stood at the door for a few moments longer attempting to regain her composure, Mac walked up to her holding an ice pack and an ace bandage.

--- "So, is she ready?"

Sam took one look at the man and began laughing again.

--- "Ah, setting the mood I see? Great! She sure is ready for you! Go right in!"

She opened the door for the man.

Alexis saw Sam laughing hysterically.

--- "Samantha McCall! Get in here, right now!"

Being quite incorrigible, Sam shook her head and simply blew her mother a kiss and closed the door. Alexis blew her bangs upwards as Mac smiled at her.

--- "Please remind me to kill that girl next time she comes in here."

He walked over and sat down on the chair.

--- "Only if you remind me to glue Maxie's mouth shut."

She put her hand out to him so that he could shake it.

--- "You've got a deal."

To prevent any further embarrassment on her part, she decided to clue Mac into Sam's actions before he noticed it himself.

--- "Um, I have to tell you something before you notice it yourself. But first, you have to promise me not to laugh."

Mac noticed that she was blushing so he nodded his head.

--- "Okay, but I have to say that I'm not really good at keeping this type of promise. Usually when someone asks you not to laugh about something, it's because it really is rather funny—"

--- "Or highly embarrassing. Just promise me, you will not laugh."

He put up his two fingers up.

--- "Fine, Scout's Honor. Whatever it is that you're going to tell me, and despite how funny it might be, I'll sooner bite my tongue off than laugh at you."

Alexis gave him a quick glare before letting out a sigh and pointing to her dresser.

--- "Sam thought it would be funny to put a condom on my dresser since you were coming in here to finish our date—"

Mac immediately felt an urge to laugh, so he bit his lip and walked to the dresser as Alexis continued.

--- "I swear, I don't know where that girl gets such ideas. I mean, it's not like I'm someone that really is promiscuous or anything like that, or would even think about having sex with anyone with all of these people under my roof! Honestly, I don't even know why I have the damned things in my drawer—"

He stood at the dresser fighting the need to laugh.

--- "Lex—"

Alexis, being the rambler, paid no mind to the fact that he was trying to interrupt.

--- "I swear Mac, those things must be from the year of the flood… clearly not MY flood or anything, because if those come, and I have to say, they're quite infrequent, they're more like leaky faucets—"

--- "Lex—"

--- "You know, those things are probably more dried up than my breast milk—"

She blushed at her comment.

--- "Alexis—"

And yet she continued to mindlessly ramble.

--- "You know what? Even if we attempted to use those things, and I'm not saying that we ever would… although we would of course use SOMETHING, they probably would disintegrate on contact—"

Mac dared not look in her direction as his eyes burned from fighting the urge to laugh but he could no longer contain himself; he laid his head onto the dresser and laughed hysterically. Alexis was not pleased.

--- "I thought you said you wouldn't laugh at me! What the hell happened to your Scout's honor?!"

She threw her other pillow at him, missing him entirely.

--- "You're horrible and a disgrace to the Boy Scout's of America, Malcolm Scorpio!"

He wiped the tears from his eyes and held his hands up in surrender.

--- "Alexis, I'm sorry, but catch—"

He tossed the item he had found on the dresser to her. He would have walked it over, but seeing as she was liable to throw something else at him, or conk him over the head with the bottle of wine she had on the nightstand beside her, he figured it safe to keep his distance.

Alexis surprisingly caught it and blushed redder than she ever thought possible. In her hands was an individually wrapped orange gummy lifesaver. She covered her face in absolute embarrassment.

--- "I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life."

Mac figured he could safely walk toward her and winked.

--- "What about the other day. I mean, I saw you in your full glory—"

Alexis chuckled and pointed to him… well, not exactly to him, per se.

--- "And I saw you standing at attention to that glory. All we needed were fireworks and it would've been the Fourth of July."

He joined in her laughter, although his ears burned slightly.

--- "Yea, well, it would've been a good one."

She smiled at him and held up the bottle of wine.

--- "Here, open this."

--- "Are you sure about that? I mean, the last time—"

She rolled her eyes at him. She figured she would, for once, take Diane's… influence… to heart.

--- "Come on, Mac."

He looked at her skeptically.

--- "You are aware that it's barely ten in the morning, don't you?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere. Plus, we've got the whole day left with these people: You, with Matt, me, with my insolent children, one who may not, after this joke, survive the whole day. I don't know about you, but I'm due a drink."

He laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

--- "I guess you're right. And you mustn't forget my daughter—"

Alexis smirked.

--- "How could I ever? Even if anyone did, she certainly would find a way to remind us all that she were here."

--- "I'm sure she'll have quite a bit to say and reveal—"

Alexis sighed as she thought about her daughter who was undoubtedly talking to her father in that moment.

--- "Hopefully it won't be something that hurts someone else."

Mac shook his head embarrassed at his daughter's actions.

--- "I really am sorry about that, Lex."

She looked at him and gave him a slight smile.

--- "You know what, you've nothing to apologize for, Mac. Now, we said that we wouldn't spend our time talking about our kids, so, let's get off that topic and crack open this bottle."

He took it from her hands.

--- "That is more than fine with me. What do you want to talk about?"

She thought for a moment.

--- "Well, seeing as you were such a bad boy, and you know how much I love my bad boys—"

He pointed his finger at her and he laughed.

--- "I'm certainly not anywhere near the realm of the type of men that you've dated in the past—"

She tapped her glass waiting for him to fill it up. He quickly opened the bottle and poured her a large glass.

--- "That, you're not, but who says that I have to date a man who's currently a bad boy. I mean, look at you! You threw poop and piss at someone!"

Mac stared at her in disbelief; he had never heard her speak so… colloquially.

--- "Wow, Lex, are you sure that you didn't have some wine before I came in here? Poop and piss isn't exactly something I ever thought was in your vocabulary!"

She smirked.

--- "NO! I'm just embracing the idea of loosening up. I'm going to prove to everyone that I can be loose."

Mac took a sip of his wine as he laughed to himself. Alexis smacked the bed.

--- "Are you laughing at me, Commissioner?"

--- "Actually, I just thought of a comeback to what you just said—"

--- "Well, what is it?"

He knew that the last time he had made a comment without thinking, Alexis had refused to speak to him; he was not sure if he wanted to take the chance again.

--- "Do you have anything around you that you might be compelled to throw at me?"

She put her glass onto the nightstand beside her, showed him her hands, and then proceeded to sit on them.

--- "I'm going to keep my hands just like this. If I have the need to throw anything at you, you'll have more than enough time to duck and dive—"

---"Geez, thanks Lex, I feel safe now!"

She laughed at him.

--- "Will you just tell me your great comeback!?"

He placed his glass on the nightstand and walked to the door for precautionary measure. She rolled her eyes.

--- "Oh come on! I'm not going to hurt you!"

Mac shook his head and remained in his spot.

--- "Okay. Well, you know how you were saying that you were trying to loosen up?"

--- "Yeeeah?"

He placed his hand on the doorknob.

--- "So, I was going to say that you needed to be careful not to get too loose because your uterus was already hanging on by a thread. We wouldn't want it to fall out or anything."

Alexis stared at him for a moment before she began to laugh at him.

--- "THAT was your comeback? Come sit down, crazy. That was ridiculously corny. You know that? You might want to get Diane to tutor you or something because that was horrible."

He shrugged his shoulders as he walked back to his seat.

--- "Hey, I said I had a comeback, I never said it was any good. AND I'm sure that if I hadn't been so afraid that you would go all Cassadine on me, and just said it in the moment, then it would've been better!"

She reached for her glass and shook her head.

--- "You're a funny man, Mr. Scorpio, funny indeed."

He watched her as she took a sip of her drink.

--- "You know, it really is perplexing to me why you're single, Lex. You're a beautiful woman, who clearly has a sense of humor, and three great daughters. You're intelligent and accomplished. What's not to love?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I could tell you the same thing, Mac. However, in my case, the men who love me, or claim to have loved me, are lunatics and mass murderers who end up dead, presumed dead, in jail, or on their way there. I just attract those type of men."

--- "I'm attracted to you and I'm not any of those things."

She laughed and took another sip of her drink.

--- "Who knows, maybe my luck is changing. One ride on the magical carpet and you might start singing a different tune. What about you?"

--- "What about me?"

She made a face at him.

--- "What do you mean, what about you? You know the type of men that I attract, what do you attract?"

He rubbed his face and thought.

--- "Let's see, the type that abandons her children? And… yea. That's about it. It's been a long time, Alexis. It seems for the past few years, I've been attached to my gun."

Alexis stared blankly at him.

--- "Well, I hope you weren't unloading it too much, we wouldn't want you to end up shooting blanks!"

Mac looked down and began to chuckle; he opened the door, and she kicked it open.

--- "Wow, Lex."

She smiled at him.

--- "And THAT, Commissioner, was a comeback."

He pointed to her.

--- "I'll give you that. I don't know how great it was, but it was certainly well-timed."

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

--- "Whatever!"

He returned the smile.

--- "Now, how about we have a toast, dimples?"

He raised his glass to her. She did the same.

--- "Here is to new beginnings."

* * *

After Sam closed the door, leaving Mac and her mother to their date, she found Mathieu standing in the hall waiting for her.

--- "Hi."

He smiled nervously at her.

--- "Hi back."

She slowly walked toward him, rubbing her hands together. She concentrated on trying to not become defensive, and instead on being open and honest with him.

--- "So, do you want to go to my room so we can talk?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

--- "I will go wherever you like, Samantha. I want you to be comfortable."

She nodded her head and walked what seemed like the long distance to the other side of the house where her room was located.

When they finally arrived, she offered him a seat on her couch and sat on her bed, facing him; she was not yet ready to sit too closely to him, lest her mother's belief in him was misguided.

--- "Okay, here we go."

She explained her life from A-Z to the man, leaving out the part concerning her drunken tryst with her mother's baby. She explained how her adoptive mother was a hateful and spiteful woman who did not give her the time of day, and how her father took advantage of her early bodily formation as child by having her con men for men. She told him of the facts leading her into Port Charles and the amount of things she had on her police record. She told him about anything and everything of which she could possibly think. Then she got to the topic of Lila.

--- "Mathieu, when Lila was conceived, I had no idea that Alexis was my mother. I knew that she had a child with Sonny, but I didn't even know at that time that I was adopted. So, even though Sonny was married at the time, he and I still… you know… and I got pregnant with my baby. Regardless of anything, that child meant the world to me. At that time, Jason and I were not yet a couple, and she was all I had left of a family. I mean, I still had Danny, but he was in a special school that could cater to his needs better than I could. That baby was everything to me."

She began to tear up as she remembered her daughter. Despite his reservations and fears that the woman might reject him, Mathieu moved from the couch to the bed and put his arm around his daughter to comfort her; to his relief, she allowed him in and continued to speak.

--- "And because of her, everything began to fall into place for me. Sonny and I obviously could not work out, but I was living with Jason, and he helped me through the pregnancy. He and I didn't start actually dating for a good while, so it wasn't like I jumped from one bed into the other, as was my custom then—"

Mathieu gave her a slight squeeze.

--- "Don't talk about yourself like that, ma belle. You were young and misguided."

She pulled away from him so that she could look at the man.

--- "That's no excuse for the things I've done, Mathieu. I knew right and wrong. I knew it was wrong to steal from people, and yet I still did it. I knew it was wrong to sleep with another woman's man or husband; and there I was jumping in bed with them. I'm not proud of my past, I'm ashamed—"

He shook his head and took her hands into his.

--- "Cherie, don't be ashamed of your past. It's what makes you, you."

She rolled her eyes at him.

--- "A con?"

He sighed and shook his head once more.

--- "No. From what I hear from that loud mouth friend of yours, you're a wonderful private investigator. It seems to me that you've used the skills you learned as a child for good—"

--- "To track down cheating husbands. I'm Mother Teresa."

He looked at her for a moment. He could not believe that life had dealt such difficult cards to the perfect child he and his Alexandra had created. His anger at his parents, at her adoptive parents, at Alexis' father, was overwhelming.

--- "Can I tell you something about my past? Maybe it will help you?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Sure, if you like."

He stood up and walked around the room.

--- "Alors… where to begin."

He thought for a moment before speaking.

--- "On that day you grandparents ruined our lives, they took me back to Europe and placed me in a boarding school in Switzerland. I was a terror. I trashed my room, vandalized the halls, stole the professors' cars, smoked marijuana, broke into other students' rooms, and did some other horrible things. I had sex like crazy—"

Sam smiled and interrupted him.

--- "I know you're trying to share a bit about yourself, but there is a such thing as sharing to much, Mathieu. The same way I don't want to talk about my mother's sex life with my mother, is the same way I could do without yours."

He frowned at her.

--- "From the conversations I've been hearing in this house, it seems that's all you ladies talk about."

She shook her head and smiled.

--- "No, not quite. We actually are making FUN of Mom. We're not exactly discussing the logistics of it all. But please, carry on! You were vandalizing, and stealing cars? So you know how to hotwire?"

Mathieu sat on the bed beside her and laughed a bit.

--- "I can hotwire a car in less than thirty second, ma belle."

She snapped her fingers at him.

--- "HA! Less than twenty."

He shook his head.

--- "Well, perhaps you would have had some of this past life regardless of whether or not your mother and I raised you. You might have it in your genes… You know, nature vs. nurture."

Sam shrugged.

--- "I don't know, maybe you're right."

He smiled at her before continuing.

--- "I know you don't want to hear about sex, but I will tell you this: when we were in school in Maine, the way I got back into my dormitory at night after spending some time with your mother was by picking the locks to the building. They used to lock us inside! Like ANIMALS! So, I would sneak out of my room whenever the evening staff changed to the overnight staff. Then when I returned, I would wait for the guard to go on break, pick the locks and sneak back to my room. They NEVER caught me!"

Sam laughed and shook her head.

--- "So, I guess my mother has always liked bad boys. It doesn't seem like you're a murderer or anything, but you certainly aren't Mr. Clean."

He shrugged his shoulders.

--- "I suppose you're right. But my point to you, Samantha, is that everyone has a past; some more interesting than others, but it is still a past. I've done things that I'm not proud of either, but I grew up and I changed. I went to medical school and graduated at the top of my class. The way it looks to me, you've done the same thing. You used the things you learned for bad, to help you do good. Maxie was telling me that your sister ran away and you found her—"

Sam covered her face; she was grateful that no one aside from her family and Sonny knew the real reason Kristina had run away.

--- "Yes."

He took her hand into his once more.

--- "So you see, it's not your past that matters, it's what you do with it that is important."

It was a strange thing to relate to, but Sam did. She would have never thought a distinguished doctor such as her father would have such a colorful past.

--- "So I take it that you're not ashamed to have me as a daughter?"

He gave her a kiss on either cheek.

--- "How could I be ashamed of you? It seems that you and I are alike in many ways."

Sam felt tears roll down her cheeks as she leaned in to give him a hug.

--- "Thank you… Dad."

* * *

Sam and Mathieu walked hand in hand toward Alexis' room just as Mac was leaving. He smiled at the young woman.

--- "I was just coming to get you."

Sam bit her lip; she had a feeling that her mother had send him for her.

--- "Why?"

--- "She said you should know why."

Sam nervously looked at Mac.

--- "Come on! Was she angry? It was a joke!"

He winked at Sam as he walked into the living room. Mathieu scowled at the man before turning his attention back to his daughter.

--- "Do you want me to go with you?"

She thought that it might be a good idea, but at the same time she did not need to be embarrassed by the man if her mother had any ideas looming in her head.

--- "Um, I think I'll be fine; she can't be too mad. I mean, I've done much worse than what I did today. Just, if I don't come back within the next five minutes, come and find me."

He nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek. While he wanted to know what she had done, he figured that she would come to him if she needed a clean escape.

--- "Anything for you, ma belle."

She bit her lip and smiled. She was beginning to think that having two parents might be a great thing.

* * *

**Happy New Year! Be safe and drink plenty… if you're of age.**


	25. Bottom's Up

Sorry for taking so long to update this story! My muse went on vacation while I focused on UMR. This is a filler chapter as I await Betty's (I decided to name her) return.

Lex is going to choose between the men soon enough so that the rest of the story can focus on Alexis and XYZ's relationship. Mati will, regardless of her decision be around as he's going to be bonding with Sam. So, stay tuned as I try to hop off my fence.

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**Bottom's Up**

Sam released her father's hand and began to slowly walk down the long hallway towards her mother's room. Her heart raced with each step. When she was halfway there, she turned around and noticed that Mathieu was still standing there watching her as she made her way to her mother's room. She bit her lip and smiled nervously.

--- "Daddy?"

She sounded like a little girl.

--- "Yes, ma belle?"

She let out a breath and shook out her hands as though she were about to run a marathon… she had to prepare herself just in case her mother suddenly regained her ability to walk since twisting her ankle. Sam desperately hoped that was not the case.

--- "Um, can you… can you just remember what I'm wearing just in case—"

He walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the side of the head.

--- "How about I walk you the rest of the way?"

She nodded her head and wrapped her arm around her father. Despite having just met him only a day prior, she felt a comfort with him that took years to develop her mother. She supposed that it must have been the immediate release of her baggage at his empty doorstep that did it. When she and Alexis had found out that they were related, they had already so much bad blood between them that adding everything from her past had completely blocked the doorway to each other's hearts; it took time to sort through it all.

--- "You know, I think that would be for the best. I guess she can't really attack me if you're in the room—"

--- "I would never let that happen! Unless of course she's armed; then you're on your own!"

She stopped and laughed at him.

--- "HEY!"

He pointed at her and tapped her on the chin.

--- "From what you've just told me, you have a knack with weapons… As a matter of fact, what about this boyfriend—"

She quickly walked away from him toward her mother's door.

--- "Um, I have to go! We'll chat later, okay?"

He put his hands on his hips as he watched her run into her mother's room completely avoiding his question about Jason. He knew that something was completely off about the man and his supposed coffee business.

* * *

Sam leaned her head against her mother's door grateful to have deflected her father's question. She nearly let out a sigh of relief until she heard a familiar clearing of the throat.

--- "Hello Samantha."

She slowly turned around to face her mother. She felt like prey backed into a corner about to be eaten and killed by a predator.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis crossed her arms and glared at her daughter.

--- "Samantha, come here."

Sam opened the door.

--- "Oh, I think I hear Diane! She might have fallen off of the washer and dryer! You wouldn't want to be sued for negligence or anything, would you?"

Alexis smiled through a threatening glare at her daughter.

--- "No, lamb chop—"

Sam made a face at her mother.

--- "Lamb chop? Run out of candy names, Mom?"

She spoke in a sweet and gentle voice to her adult daughter.

--- "No, of course not. It just seems that the only candy I could think appropriate to give you right now is a jawbreaker, but I suppose you wouldn't like that nickname, would you?"

Sam bit her lip in both amusement and fear. She never understood how a woman who had never raised her, and with whom she had had many fights prior to their reveal as mother and daughter could possibly manage to intimidate her as she did.

--- "I guess not. So, I see your foot is still pretty pained; I think I'll get you some ice—"

--- "Samantha, I told you, Mommy needs you. Come here."

It amused Alexis how nervous her daughter had become; she enjoyed making her squirm. Sam took a deep breath and closed the door, unaware that there were four pairs of ears attaching themselves to the other side of the door.

--- "Mom, come on!"

She pointed her finger to her daughter.

--- "Come to Mommy, Sam."

Sam nervously walked towards her mother's bed and sat on the chair beside it.

--- "Yea?"

Alexis patted the empty spot beside her.

--- "You're being silly! Right here, honey."

She bit her lip, stood up and sat beside her mother on the bed. Alexis grabbed her arm causing Sam to flinch.

--- "Mom, I'm sorry!"

Alexis stifled her laughter at her daughter's paranoia.

--- "What in the world is wrong with you, Samantha? I just wanted to put my arm around my eldest girl!"

She gave her a kiss on the side of head.

--- "Now, how was your conversation with your dad?"

Sam let out a sigh of relief and relaxed on the bed forgetting that her mother was upset with her.

--- "It was good. It was really good, actually. I mean, he was completely understanding about everything, which was a welcomed change—"

--- "What is that supposed to mean?"

She looked over at her mother.

--- "Mom, let's be serious, you weren't all that happy to hear about the things that I had done in my past."

--- "Well, no mother would be, Samantha."

She continued.

--- "And, when you found out that I was the kid you gave up for adoption, I certainly wasn't what you had expected. My goodness, what well respected, newly appointed District Attorney wants to learn that the daughter they gave up was a former con artist with a rap sheet to rival the mob kingpin and his enforcer? Ooh! And we mustn't forget was DATING said enforcer!"

Alexis rolled her eyes at the reminder that her daughter was once again dating Jason; this was something that she was not going to easily get over.

--- "Okay, fine. I admit it; it was very hard in the beginning. But not for the reasons you think."

Sam squinted her eyes at her mother trying to get a read on her.

--- "So you're telling me that you never in that time was sorry that I, the person who gave you so much grief, was the person who ended up being your long-lost daughter?"

Alexis looked her daughter in the eyes.

--- "Let me make this point very clear, Samantha. I loved you, the baby taken away from me at birth, from the moment you were conceived. I love you, the person, as my daughter, the second I saw you dying from a bullet wound meant for Jason—"

--- "Mom."

Alexis gave Sam a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "Honey, just listen to me. There was nothing more painful than thinking that you would never know how much I loved you. Despite all of our issues of the past, and the bad blood from… everything—"

She did not want to bring up Lila or Danny. While the two had gotten passed Sam's blaming of Alexis for their deaths, it was still an emotional topic Alexis was not willing to get into in that moment.

--- "Once Jason told me that you were mine, none of that mattered. Yes, we had our issues and our baggage, but I NEVER regretted that you, Samantha McCall, were the beautiful baby I gave up all those years ago. I think more than anything, my heart hurt that you had had such a tough life because I was not in it from the beginning. But I ALWAYS loved you, sweetheart."

Sam smiled at her mother before wrapping her arms around her neck; she gave her a hug and kiss.

--- "I love you, Mom."

Alexis smiled and tightly gripped her daughter.

--- "I love you too, sweetheart. But you didn't let me finish."

Sam unwrapped her arms and tried to move from her mother's arms, but Alexis proved stronger.

--- "Mom what are you doing?"

Alexis quickly and rather easily laid Sam across her legs and gripped her tightly.

--- "Well, the reason I especially love that you're my daughter is because you're just so small and petite I can—"

Alexis gave Sam a hard smack on the bottom causing the young woman to scream in shock.

--- "MOM!"

Muffled laughs were audible from the other side of the door. Alexis kept a firm hold of her daughter as she looked toward the door.

--- "KRISTINA, MOLLY! IF YOU TWO DON'T WANT TO END UP WITH THE SAME FATE, I SUGGEST YOU LEAVE!"

Alexis heard quick scurrying away from the door and turned her attention back to her eldest daughter.

--- "Now, where was I? Oh yea!"

She gave her another spank on the bottom causing Sam to once again scream out in pain.

--- "Mom! Stop!!! I thought you didn't believe in corporal punishment?!"

--- "I don't—"

Sam felt another stinging hit; she was in agony.

--- "What the hell do you think this is?!"

Alexis gave her another hard spank; this time making a point. Sam knew that if she didn't have a bruise before, she certainly had one from that swat.

--- "I don't believe in corporal punishment in regard to underaged children. That, I believe is wrong—"

The young woman received another blow on her pained bottom.

--- "And this isn't? Come on, stop!"

Alexis thought about it for a moment before connecting the palm of her hand to Sam's backside once more.

--- "Nope, not at all. The way I see it, Kristina has two more years of grounding before she graduates to being spanked like her big sister. I mean, she is seriously lucky this Claudia debacle didn't happen a couple of years from now."

Sam attempted to squirm from Alexis' tight hold of her, but her mother was stronger than she had ever imagined.

--- "MOM! I'm an adult! STOP! You totally can't do this!"

Alexis shook her head and smiled.

--- "Looks like I am, Cry Baby."

Spank.

--- "This will teach you that you should one, never disobey your mother. When mommy tells you to not do something, you simply don't do it—"

She hit her again.

--- "And secondly, you never EVER embarrass her the way you did today!"

Sam could not believe she was actually lying there being spanked. She was beginning to lose feeling.

--- "Come on, Mom! It was a joke! I meant no harm!"

SPANK!

She screamed out in pain, as that last one was significantly harder than the last.

--- "Well, Samantha, clearly this is not. You humiliated Mommy in a very mean way. Do you know the things that I said to that man because I was so embarrassed?! My goodness, you know how much I ramble. This should teach you that the next time I tell you to do or not to do something, and I CLEARLY don't car if you're an adult, you will listen to me."

Sam closed one eye almost waiting for the next spank, but it never came. She looked up at her mother with tears actually rolling down her red cheeks.

--- "I'm sorry, Mom."

Alexis smiled at her daughter and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek.

--- "I forgive you, big red. But, your punishment isn't over."

She wiped the tears from her face and looked at her mother.

--- "Are you kidding me? What are you going to do to me now?!"

Alexis tapped her daughter's bottom and laughed.

--- "Unlike you, Mommy doesn't joke. Now, help me to the bathroom."

Sam slowly got up from the bed and painfully walked around and helped her mother from the bed.

--- "Is this my punishment?"

Her comment earned her another swat on the backside.

--- "I've something much more appropriate for you, my little Take 5 bar!"

* * *

When Sam finally emerged from her mother's room, she wiped tears from her face. She was not crying from the pain… anymore… she was crying from the humiliation of having been, at twenty-nine, put over her mother's knee and spanked like a child. She walked into the living and saw her sisters, who had run from the door when they saw the handle moving, pretending to be reading books. She glared at them.

--- "Don't you say a single word to me."

Kristina and Molly hid their faces to hide their amused looks and to avoid laughing at their sister who clearly had not only a bruised ego, but also an equally bruised bottom.

Sam walked to the dining table and picked up one of the chairs. Mathieu, who had been in the kitchen looking for something to prepare for the group, as it was nearly lunchtime, walked into the living room and noticed his daughter. He immediately moved to help her.

--- "Let me help you."

She furiously shook her head and looked around to ensure her mother was not approaching the room.

--- "I have to do this myself. Thank you Dad."

Mathieu frowned and wondered what Alexis did to the girl. He watched as his daughter moved the chair to the corner of the room.

--- "Samantha?"

She put her finger up to him and shook her head.

He then watched as she slowly moved to sit in the chair but quickly stood up again. Her sisters could not hide their amusement; they laughed aloud.

Kristina stood up and walked over to her sister and put her hand on her shoulder.

--- "Um, I think we have Molly's old boppie somewhere around here. I mean, it could probably help with your problems."

Sam wanted so badly to say something to her sister, but her mother hopped in the room.

--- "Samantha, why aren't you sitting?"

Mathieu rushed over to the woman, and with Kristina's help, mover her down the step into the living and then over to the couch.

--- "Mom, can't I just stand up for this?"

Alexis turned and gave her daughter a threatening glare. Sam, seeing this, immediately nodded and sat on the chair, but groaned in pain just as Diane and Maxie walked in from hiding (when they had seen the door handle move, indicating that Sam was finally leaving her mother's room, Diane, Maxie, Molly and Kristina scurried out of sight).

Diane smiled when she saw the look of discomfort on the young woman's face.

--- "Sam, this isn't the place for that. I believe you have a very large bathroom where you can handle that issue. I mean, I'd give you the Pepto, but I use the last of it on blabbermouth over here"

While Maxie made a face at Diane, Sam turned to see if her mother was watching her before she made a gesture to her mother's best friend.

--- "Very polite, Ms. McCall."

Alexis did not bother to look at her daughter; she knew her well enough to know what she had just done.

--- "Samantha! Do we need to have another conversation?"

--- "No, Mother."

Maxie walked over to Alexis and shook her head at the woman.

--- "You know, Alexis, I'm surprised at you! What you just did to Sam was an assault and battery. You could be charged for that! Isn't that right Daddy?"

Alexis did not wait for Mac to respond, she smiled at the girl who had given them all so much trouble over the passed few hours.

--- "Maxie, I suggest you not say anything for a while, because I certainly will not hesitate to do to you what I've done to my DAUGHTER."

Maxie stuck out her lip and looked to her father for support.

--- "Daddy, are you really going to allow Alexis to threaten me like this?"

Mac shrugged his shoulders.

--- "Well, honey, it is her house—"

--- "But I'm your daughter."

--- "And Sam is hers. And to be quite honest, Maxie, I wouldn't blame Sam if she herself put you over her knee—"

Sam groaned in her corner.

--- "Does the WHOLE house know?!"

Alexis pointed a threatening finger at the girl.

--- "HEY! Do you want me to add more time to your 29 minute stint in the corner?"

Sam sighed and shook her head without turning to look at her mother.

--- "No, Mom."

--- "Good, so be quiet and don't speak over there. You're in time out—"

Kristina and Molly could no longer contain their laughter. They immediately laughed aloud at the ludicrousness of the entire situation. Alexis, on the other hand, shifted her body so that she could reach the one closest to her; it was Molly.

--- "Go ahead and laugh girls. Molly, you've got eight years left of enjoying being grounded—"

--- "What? How is that something to enjoy?"

Sam, never able to follow direction, answered for her mother.

--- "Because apparently our mother is a raving lunatic who seems to think—"

Diane, who had managed to pour herself another glass of wine, looked at the girl in the corner.

--- "Well, clearly it's not think, Sam. Alexis has plainly demonstrated that she obviously can and has no problem spanking her adult daughter. It's those two underaged rugrats who are spared… for now. Kristina, you better be careful what you do on your 18th birthday."

Maxie looked at Diane in awe. Diane had clearly gotten all of this information from their eavesdropping at Alexis' door.

--- "My goodness! Your hearing is like a dog's!"

--- "Gee, thank you Maxie! That wasn't remotely insulting."

The girl shook her head.

--- "No! I'm serious. I couldn't make out anything that she was saying that whole time. All I heard was Alexis' hand smacking Sam, and Sam screaming out in pain and begging for mercy."

Mathieu shook his head.

--- "Alexandra, did you really need to do this? She's an adult."

Alexis released her youngest and turned to look at the man.

--- "Excuse me, but I believe she is my daughter—"

--- "Our daughter—"

--- "Whatever! I've had 10 years to deal with her. She is so lucky I didn't do this a long time ago. That daughter of OURS was due for a spanking."

Mac put his hand on the woman's knee.

--- "I know the feeling, Lex. You know, when you actually raise your children—"

Mathieu took offense to Mac's comment.

--- "Excuse me, but I wanted to also raise Samantha."

Kristina jumped into the conversation.

--- "Um, Mom didn't actually raise Sam."

Alexis disagreed with the girl.

--- "BELIEVE me, Kristina, I raised your sister. She might have been in a bigger package than I would have liked, but that child you see sitting in the corner is the product of my blood, sweat, and tears."

Diane scoffed as she took another sip of her wine.

--- "And you're proud to claim that? You just put your 29 year old daughter over your knee, and NOW she's sitting in the CORNER in time-out!"

Maxie smirked.

--- "Better than sitting in jail, where she's landed on more than one—"

She felt everyone's eyes on her.

--- "Oh gosh, I did it again? I swear, I'm working on thinking before I speak."

Mathieu waved his hand dismissively at the girl.

--- "It's okay Maxie, I've already spoken to my daughter about all this."

--- "Oh! Great, so you already know that Jason's an enforcer?"

Diane smacked her hand on the table.

--- "ALLEGED! There is nothing on record to prove these accusations against my client. He has been proven innocent time and time again."

Mathieu's mouth fell open.

--- "Jason's been arrested? Numerous times?!"

Alexis looked up at the ceiling in annoyance with Maxie's constant need to reveal personal information about others.

--- "Where the hell is Helena and her knife when you need her?"

Mac sat beside Alexis and put his hand on her knee.

--- "I'm really really sorry about her."

She sweetly smiled at him.

--- "That's alright, Commissioner."

Sam's ears burned from utter humiliation of the whole conversation. She had attempted to keep silent during her time-out, but seeing as the group had the need to talk about her and her relationship as though she were not in the room, she could no longer contain herself. She stood up in annoyance over her family and friends' disregard for her feelings and privacy.

--- "Would you all STOP! PLEASE?! This is embarrassing enough without you bringing it up all over again!"

Alexis nodded her head in agreement.

--- "Yes, Samantha, sit down and stop talking. Mati, yes I do have to do this because Samantha needs a lesson in discipline. As for Jason, that's a conversation you need to have, SANS Maxie, to Sam when she's been given her talking privilege again. Kristina, and you too Molly, just because I didn't raise your sister, she's my kid just as much as you two are. You will never have to worry about discriminatory punishment in this house. Diane and Maxie, I thought I told you all to stop eavesdropping?"

Molly shook her head.

--- "No, that was us."

Kristina smacked her sister on the arm.

--- "Will you shut up?"

Alexis gave her daughter a disapproving look.

--- "We don't say shut up."

Maxie laid her head on the table.

--- "This house is like an episode of All My Children! Can we please do and talk about something other than disciplining each other."

Diane rolled her eyes.

--- "PLEASE! There is NO one in here I'd like to discipline, or would let discipline me."

Molly cocked her head to the side as she gave Diane a confused look.

--- "You want to be spanked, Diane?"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Don't you dare answer that Diane!"

--- "I was not going to say anything… much. I swear."

Mac stood up and clapped his hands for the rooms attention.

--- "Alright, I think Maxie's right! Let's play a game or something. I think we can use a distraction."

Alexis nodded her head in agreement as she attempted to lift her foot onto the table; both Mathieu and Mac rushed to help. Diane groaned in disgust as the men fought with each other as to who would get to lift Alexis' leg and who would place the pillow onto the coffee table. They both fawned over the woman like sick puppies.

--- "I'm all for games as long as it isn't poker. I think there's enough of an attempt with those three going on right now and it's making me sick to my stomach."

The group turned to look at the woman. While they were usually able to understand her many sexual innuendos, this one flew right above their heads.

Maxie made a face at the tipsy attorney.

--- "Poker?"

Diane rolled her eyes and pointed to Alexis and the two men.

--- "Clearly we've got the presumable Queen sitting on her throne in the middle of two guys."

Kristina remained confused.

--- "What?"

--- "Do I have to walk you people through everything? In a deck of cards, the queen sits between the jack and the king—"

Sam painfully sat in her corner listening to the conversation. She knew she was on time-out, but knowing the set up of a deck of cards, she was intrigued.

--- "Wait, so, who's the Jack and who's the King, here?"

Alexis turned to glare at her daughter.

--- "Samantha, REALLY? Do I need to once again take you over my—"

Sam shook her head and smiled nervously at her mother.

--- "That's fine, Mom! I'll be quiet."

Kristina and Molly began to snicker but Alexis pointed a threatening finger to them then to her lap causing them to stifle their laughter.

Mac puffed out his pigeon chest and looked to the witty woman.

--- "So, yea, I'm curious, who's the King here Diane? Me or him?"

Mathieu took Mac's distraction as his advantage to move and sit close beside Alexis, who sighed and rolled her eyes at the men's competition with one another.

Diane shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her wine.

--- "Commissioner, we live in a democracy; there are no kings in this country. I do however see two Jack ASSES who are unable to see that the queen has been playing solitaire; she'll need a private poker lesson, before she can show out with a full house."

Sam immediately stood up from her chair and walked over to Diane.

--- "I think you need to go sit down over there."

Diane looked from the young woman to her best friend.

--- "Excuse me, but Alexis—"

Alexis shook her head at her best friend and pointed to the chair Sam previously occupied.

--- "Nope. Get over there."

The woman pursed her lips and attempted to bring her glass of wine with her, but Sam took it from her hands.

--- "Yea no. You'll need to spend your 60 minute stint in the corner sober."

* * *

**My return to hell recommences on Monday. I don't know when this story will be updated… please bear with me. Thanks!**


	26. Two Men and The Stuffing

Well, Betty (for those who don't know, that's the muse for this story) got back on the pole (Annie, the UMR muse, locked her in a trunk and shipped her out of the country)! After three long weeks, here is your update… and exceptionally long one (Oooh yea).

Review and Betty'll keep spinning and working that pole! She doesn't work for free! LOL!

**This is PART ONE.**

**UNEDITED**

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**Two Men and The Stuffing**

The next morning, Sam awoke in her mother's bed to find Kristina fast asleep beside her. She muffled her laughter as she reached for her telephone so that she could take a picture of her teenaged sister whose mouth hung open as drool poured from her mouth onto their mother's pillow. She tried to mute the image capture and turn off the flash, but her sister woke up as both attempts proved unsuccessful.

--- "What the hell, Sam?!"

Sam laughed as she showed the picture to her sister.

--- "You look great when you sleep, sweetie! I figured I'd capture your beauty."

Kristina turned red at the sight of the unflattering picture.

--- "DELETE THAT!"

She nearly tackled her sister for the phone, but Sam quickly jumped over a sleeping Molly to get off of the bed.

--- "Oh, I DON'T think so!"

--- "SAM! Come on! Why are you doing this?"

Molly woke up from her sleep.

--- "What's going on?"

Kristina angrily pointed to their older sister.

--- "Sam is being a total tool by taking a really horrible picture of me. Now she won't delete it!"

Sam smirked.

--- "It's blackmail!"

Kristina tried to jump over Molly as Sam previously did, but the littlest Davis pushed her back.

--- "I'm not a hurdle and this isn't the track, stop jumping over me!"

Sam laughed.

--- "Seriously, Krissy, Molly is small enough; she doesn't need you falling over her, but then again you falling could add to this lovely album of mine."

Kristina scoffed at her sister and jumped over the front of her mother's sleigh-bed instead.

--- "I want that PHONE!"

Molly was getting highly annoyed that her sister's had awoken her from her highly suspenseful dream concerning the story of Macbeth.

--- "Will you two morons get out?! You're acting stupid!"

--- "Sorry Mol!"

Sam laughed as she ran out of the bedroom and into the hallway waving her phone in the air taunting her sister.

--- "I'm holding onto this lovely picture of you—"

Kristina was becoming increasingly angry.

--- "What are you blackmailing me for? I didn't do anything to you, Sam!"

Sam put her hands on her hips as she continued to keep a tight grip onto her phone. She wondered whether Kristina had completely blocked out the events of the previous evening.

--- "Are you kidding me? Have you forgotten the way you totally made fun of me and not to mention embarrassed me after that total bullcrap spanking and time-out I got from Mom?"

The teen rolled her eyes at her sister; she had remembered the spanking (really, how could she have forgotten?), but she would not have told anyone… really.

--- "I didn't do anything to you!"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Your sideways comments, the way you ensured to listen at the door, you being you, shall I continue? This is insurance that something like that will never happen again."

Kristina knew that Sam was always one to protect her whenever something happened to her; but she was not sure if, in this situation, her sister would actually be the one from whom she needed protection.

--- "Come on, Sam! Give me a little more credit! I wouldn't embarrass you like that—"

She rolled her eyes at her younger sister.

--- "Did some of your brain fluid ooze out of your mouth while you were drooling all over Mom's pillow? You ALREADY embarrassed me, Krissy—"

--- "You're being childish—"

--- "And you know what? With being a PI and all, I'm pretty savvy with computers, so sending this pic to everyone in your school would be a piece of cake!"

Sam smiled as she quickly emailed the picture to herself, while allowing her sister's imagination to run wild.

--- "You didn't?"

Sam shrugged and began walking away from her sister. Kristina, being only a junior at the high school was terrified that her sister actually sent out the picture to the entire student body; she could not spend the next school year attempting to live the image down.

--- "SAM! GIVE ME THE PHONE!"

She tackled her sister to the floor. Sam held a firm grip to her cell phone as her sister attempted to wrestle it from her hands.

--- "NO!"

Hearing the commotion, Molly, who had tried to fall back asleep seeing as it was only seven in the morning, leapt from the bed annoyed that she was once again being awoken by her fighting sisters.

--- "Why don't you two SHUT UP?"

The girls both looked up at their little sister as they fought for the phone.

--- "Mind your business, MOLLY!"

--- "Yeah, go read a book or something!"

Molly hated when her sisters disregarded her as they just had; she watched as they continued to fight each other for the phone.

--- "You guys are being dumb! Kristina, no one cares about you, and Sam, you're too old to be acting like this. I'm telling Mommy!"

--- "Yea yea, tattle to Mommy."

Molly scowled at Kristina who had a tendency to make fun of her whenever she wanted to involve their mother into a situation.

--- "I will! MOOOOOM!!!"

Sam and Kristina stopped fighting at the sound of their sister calling for their mother.

--- "Molly, why did you do that?! You don't have to call Mom; this is just a sisterly disagreement."

Molly stuck her tongue out and called for their mother again.

--- "MOMMY! Sam and Kristina are fighting like two idiots!"

Sam pushed Kristina off of her as the teen attempted to once again reach for the cell phone.

--- "Get off of me! I don't even know why I'm still here in the first place; I'm going home. I can't handle you two monsters. I'm too old to be tattled on to Mommy—"

---"Tattle to Mommy about what?"

Alexis emerged from the other side of the house a bit disheveled in appearance; Sam eyed her suspiciously.

--- "Hmmf, looks like someone has been wrestling—"

Her mouth fell open as she realized what she had just insinuated of her mother; she remembered how she and her sisters left her.

--- "Oh God, MOM! Where were you?!"

Kristina and Molly looked back and forth from Sam to their mother. When Alexis noticed the looks she was receiving from her girls, she pulled Sam into her bedroom.

--- "Girls, stop fighting and get ready for breakfast."

--- "MOM!"

Kristina stopped her.

--- "Will you get her to delete the picture she took of me from her phone—"

Sam feigned shock as she looked at her sister.

--- "I have NO idea what you're talking about Krissy! I don't have a picture of you on my phone!"

Alexis was not buying her daughter's innocent act.

--- "And you and your sister were fighting for what reason?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Well, we weren't doing what YOU clearly were doing, Mom—"

Alexis sighed and stuck her hand out to her daughter.

--- "Give me your phone, Samantha."

Kristina smirked as she raised a single brow at her sister, but Sam smiled at her as she handed the phone to their mother.

--- "Here you go Mommy."

Alexis took the phone and looked through the images ; there were several of the family as a whole, but there were none that were embarrassing of her middle daughter.

--- "Sweetheart, there's nothing in her phone."

The teen was beyond shocked and quite suspicious of her sister.

--- "Mom, she said that would email it to everyone at school!"

Alexis knew her eldest daughter would never do such a thing to her sister, but would in fact attempt to scare the teen into believing that she would actually do so. She shook her head at her daughter.

--- "You know what, I don't care about what's going on with you two right now. This is childish and you both need to grow up!"

Sam grimaced at her mother.

--- "I'm sure that by the looks of you, I know of something else that was growing last night."

Kristina scrunched her face in disgust.

--- "Seriously Sam? Not something I need to hear first thing in the morning. Mom, you were with—"

Alexis glared at both of her girls and opened her door.

--- "Kristina, out. Sam, we need to talk."

--- "Mom, I love you, I really do, and I love that we're close, but I seriously don't want to hear about your pipes getting unclogged—"

After such a comment from her sister to their mother, Kristina did not need to be told twice to leave; she wanted out of the room before any more inappropriate information was shared. Alexis quickly closed the door behind her and shook her head at her eldest daughter.

--- "Did you really have to say all of those things in front of her, Samantha?"

Sam shrugged and walked into her mother's bathroom; her toothbrush was still in there from the previous morning, so she decided that since she was clearly not going back to bed, she would brush her teeth.

--- "Mom, please! She's a teen, if you think that she's not talking about these things, then you're nuts. Plus, have you spoken to her about Kiefer?"

Alexis leaned against the doorframe trying to not think about her teenage daughter contemplating such a big step.

--- "Um, I doubt that they're having sex—"

--- "I didn't say they were—"

She spit.

--- "I said you should talk to her. Now that we're on the topic of sex, please tell me that you weren't… [ahem]… on my bed."

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose.

--- "No, first I want to discuss what you did to your sister—"

--- "Actually, I think its more important for us to discuss the fact that you were CLEARLY having something done to you, in MY room, no less!"

She rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "Pure speculation."

Sam pointed her toothbrush at her mother.

--- "Don't get all lawyerly on me! You were clearly having either a taste of some hmm hmm good Maclovin, or getting flambéed by my father! And AGAIN, might I add that you were doing all of this in MY room!"

Alexis covered her face and stared at her daughter between her fingers.

--- "Will you keep your voice down?"

--- "MY BED!"

She attempted to contain her laughter, but enjoyed her daughter's look of disgust. She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.

--- "It's not like you're ever here!"

Sam was mortified.

--- "MOM!"

Alexis laughed at the look of disgust on her daughter's face as she rinsed her mouth.

--- "Relax. We didn't… on your bed… just on the floor… of your bathroom—"

Sam spit out the water into the sink and stared at her mother.

--- "GOD, Mom!"

She walked up to her with her arms crossed; while she wanted to strangle her mother for being so calm about the situation, she stood several inches shorter than the woman, and quite frankly, her mother scared her. So, Sam squinted at the woman as she looked up at her.

--- "Mom, which one were you with last night?"

* * *

**The Night Prior**

Molly climbed on the counter in the kitchen and opened the cabinets.

--- "There's nothing in here but boxes of tea!"

The group stood watching as the girl searched the cabinets. It was well into the evening, and after occupying and distracting themselves with naps, card games and scrabble, their stomachs decided that replenishment was essential. While Jason had said he would return with lunch, it was dinnertime and they had not heard from him; therefore, the group, stuck in Alexis' home, was suffering from pangs of hunger.

--- "Check the top shelf, Mol!"

Molly got onto her tiptoes and checked. The only thing she saw was a bag of marshmallows, although she was unsure of how long they had been in their cupboard. She grabbed them and handed them to her mother.

--- "This is all that's up here, Mommy."

The group stared at Alexis. Maxie, who had herself, spend a good portion of the day in time-out for the many comments and revelations she had made about everyone else's personal lives, was dumbfounded at the lack of food in the woman's house.

--- "Isn't this like child abuse or something? Aren't you supposed to have something to eat! I mean, you have two daughters—"

Sam leaned against the island and cleared her throat.

--- "Um, I'm pretty sure that she's got three daughters, although I'm treated like the stepchild."

Alexis rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a kiss on the side of the head as she wrapped her arms around her.

--- "You're not my stepchild! If you were, you'd have a fairy godmother turning those stale marshmallows into a yummy sweet potato casserole or something!"

Sam pulled away from her mother and moved next to her father who was standing aside from the group watching the situation; he immediately wrapped his arm around her and lead her out of the kitchen.

While Alexis was hurt by the rejection, she had a feeling her daughter was upset with her, but decided to not push the subject until she could get her alone. For the time being, she needed to figure out a way to feed her houseful of people.

--- "Okay, so it seems we've got stale marshmallows, Halloween candy, and—"

She opened her refrigerator.

--- "Er, milk—"

She handed the carton to Kristina, who opened it, but quickly handed it back to her mother.

--- "Mom, that's rotten."

Alexis put it back into the fridge. Mac reached into the refrigerator and took the milk.

--- "Why in the world would you put this back in there if its expired?"

Molly jumped down from the counter and grabbed the milk from Mac.

--- "Because I can use it for a science experiment on the benefits of spoiled milk—"

Diane scoffed.

--- "Molly, let me explain something to you—"

Alexis shook her head; she knew her friend well enough to know that whatever she was going to say would not be appropriate for her ten year old daughter.

--- "You know what, Di, maybe you should sit in the living room—"

--- "Oh you're not going to put me into time-out, again!"

The people in the kitchen attempted to muffle their laughs, but most were unsuccessful. Alexis smiled widely so that her dimples were most present; she typically did that when she masked her desire to fall into a fit of hysterics.

--- "No, of course not, Di! I just think you've had quite a bit to drink, and perhaps you might want to, you know, lie down or something."

Diane had been drinking quite a bit, but being a self-titled championed drinker, she did not feel the effects of it, although everyone with eyes could see that the woman had had too much to drink.

--- "No, I'm fine. Now, Molly, this is a lesson in life you should ALWAYS keep in mind—"

Kristina shook her head.

--- "Here we go—"

Diane continued.

--- "There is NOTHING beneficial from anything that's curdled. Whenever you see something creamy and lumpy, run to the high hills! I mean—"

--- "Okay! Molly, ignore Auntie Di. Diane, let's go."

Alexis grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her into the living room, and pushed her down onto the couch.

--- "Just sit—"

The woman began to protest.

--- "Lex—"

--- "Nope, just sit."

Diane crossed her arms and pouted.

--- "First, I get put into time-out; then, as though that weren't bad enough, I get put into it for SIXTY minutes, as though I were some decrepit old woman! I swear, that house elf, little Dobby from Harry Potter, is going to get a good smack for doing such a thing."

--- "You can't keep telling my 10 year old any old thing that comes to mind; you need to think about what you've said. Now sit."

Just as Alexis was about to leave the room, her doorbell rang; it was Jason. While she was none to pleased to have him back in her home, he was carrying two bags of food.

--- "I never thought I'd ever say this, but you're our Savior right now!"

He nodded and placed the bag on the dining table.

--- "I was supposed to bring lunch, but the streets were blocked—"

Alexis smiled in an attempt to remain civil with the man, while still keeping up her firm and cold guard; she wanted him to remember that she was serious about hurting him if he ever once again hurt her daughter.

--- "That was very nice of you. Thank you."

Seeing as there was nothing left to find to eat in the kitchen, the group came into the living room. Maxie smiled widely at the sight of the food on the table.

--- "Look at you being quite chivalrous Jason; feeding your girlfriend's family to gain points—"

He stared at her.

--- "That's not what's going on, Maxie. I told Sam I would be back—"

--- "No, no! You don't have to tell me anything. I just think its super sweet. Kudos to you!"

Alexis rolled her eyes and looked to her two daughters.

--- "Will you two go get the plates for us all—"

Jason interrupted her.

--- "Actually, the roads are pretty clear now, so I'm going to get going—"

Maxie quickly moved to grab her coat from the coat rack.

--- "Great, I think I've spent more time that I needed with these people… no offense! You can take me back to my non-husband—"

Mac grabbed his daughter by the arm.

--- "Oh, I don't think so—"

--- "What now, Mac?!"

He shook his head.

--- "There is no way you're going with Jason."

She clicked her tongue as she pursed her lips.

--- "You are aware that I came with him this morning?"

--- "But you're not leaving with him—"

Alexis, who was looking at the amount of food that had been purchased, intervened.

--- "Excuse me, but we've more than enough food here for everyone to enjoy. I would love it if you would all just stay."

Diane walked over to have a look at what was purchased. Because of the weather and the increased amount of take-out, all that Jason had been able to find was Kentucky Fried Chicken.

--- "Geez, Jason, in the mood I'm in, I'm not sure I should be eating these parts; I think I'd feel slightly awkward. I think I'm going to pass. Sorry Lex, but unless there's a nice big coc-ROOSTER in that bucket, I think I'll take a ride from Jason to Max's; it's been a cold night and I'm going to fire up some wood."

Alexis rolled her eyes hoping that her impressionable youngest daughter was not paying any mind to the inebriated woman.

--- "Fine and good luck with that."

Maxie had managed to pull her arm from her father's grasp and to put on her coat.

--- "Yea, I'm going to do the same. I mean, Spinelli likes his sausage in my oven and all—"

Mac glared at his daughter. He knew that she was purposely making such comments to get under his skin. He also knew that he was not going to stop Maxie from leaving with Jason, and had he offered to drop her off, his daughter would have found a way to be with her thug boyfriend. He groaned in agitation before threateningly pointing his finger at Jason.

--- "You had better get her home safely. Don't stop to shoot up any of your fellow gangsters while she's in the car."

Jason ignored the commissioner's statement and turned to Alexis.

--- "Where is Sam?"

Alexis was not sure where her daughter had disappeared to with her father, but she assumed that they must have gone to her room to talk.

--- "She's probably in her bedroom with her father. Let me—"

Before she finished her statement, Jason walked out of the living room in the direction of Sam's room. Alexis did not care for the man roaming the halls of her home, but she also knew that he was not a thief or anything… just a hitman… her property was safe.

* * *

Mathieu noticed that Sam was rather quiet and perhaps a bit upset with her mother. Honestly speaking, he could not blame her as Alexis had all but embarrassed her. Seeing as Sam had made the first move of moving to stand by him after somewhat shunning her mother, he decided to take the opportunity to offer a father's ear to her troubles.

--- "Is something bothering you, ma belle?"

Sam smiled at the pet name from her father; she loved that he was so attentive to her despite having only met her. She felt an immediate connection to him.

--- "I don't know if I should be talking to you about this."

--- "You can talk to me about anything. I know that we've just met, but I want to know everything about you. You're my daughter; the only way that can happen is if we talk."

She nodded her head and moved to sit on her bed.

--- "Okay. But, you have to promise not to say anything—"

He sat beside her and took her hand into his.

--- "I can't promise you that—"

--- "Mathieu—"

His face fell at hearing her refer to him by his first name when she had begun to call him Dad, and even more special, Daddy. He had hoped that it would continue. Sam noticed his hurt and immediately felt bad; it was never her intention to hurt his feelings.

--- "I'm really sorry; Dad—"

He smiled.

--- "It took me a year and a half before I started calling Mom, Mom. And even when I started, I kind of jumped back and forth with it. It's just weird—"

He kissed her hand.

--- "I know. Now, what is bothering you? I can't promise I won't say anything because if need be, I will protect and defend you the way I should have done before you were born."

She bit her lip as she thought of how she would begin.

--- "I don't know, I just feel humiliated right now—"

--- "Because of the time-out?"

She rolled her eyes.

--- "If only it were just that! My goodness, I'm twenty-nine, and my mother put me over her knee and spanked me like a child! My sisters keep snickering in my direction, and Maxie, you already know she had the biggest mouth in town, and you've only just met her! I mean, don't get me wrong, my mom and are really close, but I think she crossed the line tonight, and I'm pissed about it."

He could not say he disagreed with her, but then again, he did not know the entire story as to what it was that Sam had done in the first place.

--- "Well, you seem to be very respectful—"

--- "You want to say frightened—"

That was true, he did.

--- "I didn't want to exactly say that, but I guess, yes, that would be the best word. Are you afraid of your mother?"

She thought about it for a second. It was not that she was afraid of her mother, she simply respected her… well…

--- "I wouldn't exactly say all of that, but she's my mom; if I don't do what she asks, then she'll just nag me until I do… or kidnap me… or take my car keys… or take my house keys… or come by the apartment—"

She noticed the look on his face and stopped speaking.

--- "Um, Mom isn't crazy, you know. She's just controlling, in her own way, I guess. I'm sure she wasn't anything like that when you knew her."

He smiled, as he thought about his Alexandra and their time together. She was always a shy girl, but quite opinionated when given an opportunity to speak. He always gave her such opportunities; he was always interested in what she had to say.

--- "She wasn't controlling, but… persuasive. She could make anyone agree with whatever it was that she had to say—"

Sam laughed as she imagined her younger mother talking someone into compliance.

--- "You mean nag."

He nudged his daughter playfully.

--- "No! I don't mean nag. She seriously had this gift to make anyone see reason—"

--- "Her reason."

--- "Bien sur! Is there any other? But Samantha, it was only after you got to know her that she let you see that side of her. Otherwise she was very calm and quiet. When I first bumped into her at the school dance, she was painfully shy—"

--- "And yet you were still interested?"

He nodded.

--- "Your mother is a beautiful woman; she has always been beautiful. I could not resist her. And look, we created something even more beautiful in you."

She blushed at his compliment. It was strange hearing about her mother's younger years; it had never been something that she and Alexis had ever discussed together in the years that they had begun to grow close.

--- "Thank you."

He passed his hand along her cheek.

--- "You look a bit like her, but I still see a lot of me in you. I think you're a perfect combination."

--- "Really?"

--- "Yes. And I know that I don't know you very well, but I see your mother's temperament—"

Sam nearly laughed aloud at his statement.

--- "Okay, Dad, now you're pushing it. My mother is the most neurotic person I know. She is a straight by the book person who stays on the right side of the law. She's… predictable."

He seemed amused; his Alexandra, while she stayed on the right side of the law, was a risk taker.

--- "Wow. Well, considering all that you told me tonight, I certainly can see that you're nothing like that. I suppose most of your personality comes close to mine. But, Samantha, I will tell you this, your mother was not always as predictable as you might think. She was smart; she knew how to do what she wanted, and not get caught. I think that's what I loved the most about her; she liked taking chances."

She was becoming more and more amazed by her conversation with her father about her mother; she felt as though for the first time she was actually finding out who Alexis Davis really was. In the same respect, Mathieu felt the same; there was so much he simply did not know about the love of his life.

--- "I don't think your mother's intention was to embarrass you."

Her ears turned red at the memory.

--- "Well, I can't say that I exactly blame her. I mean, I played a really mean joke on her, and knowing her as well as I do, she definitely humiliated herself because of it. I guess I got what was coming to me."

--- "I think you should still speak with her and let her know that it is bothering you."

She bit her lip as she nodded in agreement.

--- "I will. Thank you, Daddy."

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door.

--- "Yea?"

Jason opened the door.

--- "I'm sorry to interrupt—"

Mathieu stood up and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek.

--- "No, you're not interrupting at all. Cherie, I'm going to leave you here with your coffee importer."

Sam rolled her eyes knowing that her father and she would soon be having a conversation about Jason's actual profession.

--- "Okay, Dad. Thanks for listening."

--- "Anytime, ma belle."

He walked up to Jason and extended his hand to him.

--- "It's nice to see you again."

Jason took his hand and simply nodded.

When her father left, Sam walked up to Jason and gave him a hug, leaning her head against his chest.

--- "You promised you would be back for lunch. We came very close to turning into cannibals… well, at least Mac and my Dad. They were certainly competing on which would eat my mom—"

Jason's stomach turned at the image.

--- "Thanks for that, Sam."

She smiled and looked up at him; he leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips.

--- "You're welcome. Now, where have you been?"

He sighed as he looked around her room; he had not been in there for years. He typically made it his business to stay close to the door whenever visiting Alexis' home; he never wanted to stay longer than necessary. Luckily for him, Sam typically did not spend too much time at the lake house.

--- "I tried to get here earlier with lunch, but unfortunately, the roads were completely blocked. I guess they were trying to clean up because now it's clear now. I'm actually just here dropping off food for you all; I know you said your mom's fridge is not stocked—"

She shook her head.

--- "It really isn't; we do take-out here."

--- "Well, take out is what you all have for dinner. It's not what you're used to, but it's food."

She hugged him once more.

--- "My hero! You're wonderful for that."

--- "You can always come home with me."

She thought about it for a moment, but figured she would stay one more night with her family; now that everyone was leaving, she could actually have time to bond with her sisters and mother... assuming she wasn't preoccupied bonding with one of her two suitors.

--- "Normally, I would definitely say yes, but you know what? I'm actually going to stay here with my family."

He gave her his subtle smiles and another kiss on the lips.

--- "I figured you would. I brought you a change of clothes; I didn't think you wanted to borrow another one of your sister's outfits tomorrow."

--- "Aren't you always the thinker! I appreciate that; thank you!"

He took her by the hand and led her back into the living room where Maxie and Diane were waiting with their coats on; he went out to the car to grab the bag he had packed for her. Sam's sisters were seated at the dining table looking annoyed.

--- "It's about time! We're hungry!"

Sam rolled her eyes at Molly.

--- "I didn't tell you to wait for me!"

--- "Well, Mommy wouldn't let us start until we were all seated."

Sam looked at her mother.

--- "How'd you know that I wouldn't have left?"

Alexis smiled and shrugged.

--- "Sam, honey, I already told you that you wouldn't be going out in this snow."

--- "It's upstate New York, Mom; it always snows!"

Seeing that her daughter seemed to no longer be upset with her, Alexis walked up to her and gave her a hug; she whispered in her ear.

--- "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Sam returned her mother's hug.

--- "Thanks Mom."

Alexis released her daughter and looked her in the eyes.

--- "So you're staying?"

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Did I really have any other choice?"

Alexis kissed her daughter on the cheek.

--- "You know your Mommy so well; of course you didn't."

--- "That's what I thought."

Kristina hit the side of her glass with her fork.

--- "Um, I'm sorry to interrupt this pow-wow, but we're pretty hungry here! Would you two mind?"

Diane nodded in agreement, and poked her client in the arm as he walked back into the house with Sam's bag.

--- "Yes, and Jason, can we please leave. I need get Max's engine restarted; it has been cold for far too long!"

He groaned in disgust.

--- "Okay, Sam, here's your stuff; I'll see you tomorrow?"

She went to close and lock the door behind Maxie, Diane and Jason.

--- "Yea, you will."

--- "Good."

Once they had all departed, she turned to the remaining party: her sisters, mother, father, and Mac. She smiled menacingly at her mother.

--- "Krissy, Mol, why don't we go watch a movie in Mom's room?"

Kristina gave her sister a questioning look.

--- "Sam, we're hungry—"

--- "So, we'll take the food in there with us; it's not like Mom doesn't make a habit of eating in there."

Alexis knew her daughter was purposely leaving her in an uncomfortable position with Mac and Mathieu.

--- "Sam, we're going to sit down as a family for dinner—"

Sam raised an eyebrow.

--- "And for dessert? Creamcicles?"

Molly clapped in excitement.

--- "Oh, I LOVE Creamcicles!"

--- "And so does Mom, Mol! Don't you, Mom? The nice and thick ones right?"

Alexis knew what her daughter was doing, but refused to give in; she refused to be placed in the awkward situation of dinner with both men all alone.

--- "Samantha, we've saved you a seat right here, right next to Mommy."

Sam smiled politely and took her seat next to her mother.

--- 'Thanks Mom."

Alexis gave her a threatening glare before turning her attention to the hungry group.

--- "Okay, I know that Kristina and Sam want a wing each, and Molly wants the leg, but what piece do you guys eat?"

Sam jumped in before either man could answer.

--- "Well clearly the breasts—"

Kristina, who had begun to sip some of her soda, nearly choked.

--- "Geez Sam!"

Molly was so famished she took a bite of her chicken.

--- "What's the big deal?"

Alexis, who had once again given Sam a death glare, pointed to her youngest daughter.

--- "No talking with your mouth full."

--- "Sorry!"

Mac and Mathieu were quickly growing uncomfortable in an amused sort of way; knowing how Alexis had treated Sam earlier, they knew that this was a bout of revenge on the younger woman's part.

Mac cleared his throat.

--- "Um, I'll take the thigh actually."

Sam sighed in her seat.

--- "Shame we don't have a whole chicken here, Mac! I'm sure you would've enjoyed the stuffing between the thighs."

--- "SAM!"

The young woman leaned back in her chair.

--- "What, Mom? You like stuffing your turkey."

Molly nodded in agreement.

--- "It's true. Remember when we made the Thanksgiving turkey?"

Kristina looked at her older sister who was smiling from ear to ear; she figured she'd join in on the fun.

--- "Yea, and we massaged oil all over its body."

Mathieu smiled as he noticed Alexis turning all shades of red; he knew his daughter would soon be in trouble, but he figured it would not be a repeat of the morning's actions. He looked at his daughter who seemed to enjoy making her mother squirm.

--- "You know, I've always been a breast man."

Molly laughed.

--- "So is Mom!"

Sam laughed aloud at her mother's expense; she looked at the two men.

--- "You see, Mom isn't very picky at all; she'll ravage anything if she's in the mood."

--- "SAM!"

Mac smirked; while he could have done with dinner without Mathieu at the table, it was, to say the very least, quite an entertaining meal… that had not yet even begun.

--- "Okay, so who would like some coleslaw?"

Sam looked at her mother who seemed to have been anticipating a comment on her part.

--- "My mom likes it creamy, so if it's thick and creamy, she'll have some."

Alexis put her silverware done and scowled at her daughter before sighing. Sam knew, at that moment, that she would later hear from her for her antics.

--- "Well, I think you girls should actually watch that movie in my room with your dinner. When was the last time you actually had a chance to bond?"

Sam smiled as she stood up in her seat and grabbed her plate, along with a couple of sides she and her sisters enjoyed. She leaned down and gave Alexis a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "Thanks Mommy. Enjoy your meal!"

Alexis gave her daughter a death glare as she walked out of the room. Mathieu looked toward the older woman and laughed.

--- "Cheri, you can't say you didn't deserve that."

She turned to look at her daughter's father.

--- "Shut up."

* * *

**Present Day**

Molly walked into their mother's bedroom in the middle of the two women's conversation.

--- "Mommy, can you tell Kristina to hurry up in the bathroom! She's taking forever!"

Sam threw her hands up in the air.

--- "Mol, just relax; Mom and I are in the middle of something!"

Alexis smiled at her youngest daughter's timing; she actually enjoyed keeping her Sam in suspense.

--- "No worries, baby; let's get Krissy out of there!"

Sam wanted to scream.

--- "MOM! Come on! That can wait—"

She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and pushed her back into the bathroom.

--- "You definitely don't want to go into your bathroom right now, so take a shower in here, but not too long; Mommy's dirty."

* * *

**This is the end of Part I… Stay tuned for Part II.**


	27. Nostalgic Games of The Heart

Here is Part Two. It is SIX IN THE MORNING. I'm not reading twenty-seven pages right now. Accept it with all its errors. If I have time, I'll read it tomorrow. I assume you'll tell me if it's riddled with them.

Enjoy.

(I pray this is coherent because my eyes are closing here… schoolwork all day tomorrow)

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**Nostalgic Games of the Heart**

Alexis laughed as she noticed the look of shock on her daughter's face; nothing amused her more than torturing her eldest child. It was like a sick game the two played with each other; Sam would do something outrageous to her mother, and Alexis would retaliate by raising the stakes. As it stood, of the two Alexis was clearly winning.

Sam followed her mother and Molly out of the bedroom.

--- "Mom!"

Alexis ran her hands through her hair as she walked, ignoring Sam's agitation.

--- "Molly, baby, what do you want for breakfast?"

--- "Oooh, can we have chocolate chip pancakes?!"

Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance.

--- "MOM! Molly always wants the same thing, and Krissy is going to want Belgian Waffles; they're predictable. Can we just order so you can tell me what you had for dessert last night?"

Molly looked from her sister to her mother.

--- "Didn't she have creamcicles? Isn't that what we were talking about last night?"

Alexis' face reddened as Sam crossed her arms across her chest.

--- "From the looks of it, Mol, it looks like she had a cannoli, creamcicle, éclair—"

Molly was shocked at her mother's… voracity.

--- "Mommy! You NEVER let us have all that stuff—"

She gently pushed her daughter toward her bedroom, and gave her a light swat on her bottom.

--- "Um, not til you're older. Now, go tell your sister to hurry up because I don't want you to be stuck eating cold breakfast or late for your activities."

When Molly was gone, Alexis turned to Sam with a pointed finger.

--- "You really need to stop doing that! It's not funny!"

--- "The hell it isn't; that kid doesn't know anything that I'm talking about. My gosh, she thought me making out with Jason on my couch was us having sex—"

Alexis walked to the kitchen and started to make coffee.

--- "Don't remind me, please."

Sam pushed her mother away from the coffee maker.

--- "I'm sorry, but I think you had enough bitter and thick things in your mouth last night—"

--- "Coffee isn't thick—"

--- "Yours is, Mom! For whatever reason, anytime you make coffee, it tends to have the consistency of mud, and actually taste like you go down by the lake with the coffee pot and just scoop some up—"

Alexis rolled her eyes as she dialed Kelly's to place the family's breakfast order

--- "It is NOT that bad, Samantha; you're being dramatic."

She finished putting the coffee into the maker, and hopped onto the island facing her mother, who was just finishing the breakfast order. Alexis gave her daughter a look; Sam jumped off the island.

--- "I swear, Samantha, you're just like a teenager; I hate when you and Kristina ignore the stools that are right here for your bottom's pleasure and choose to sit instead on my counter."

She pulled out a stool and sat down.

--- "Are you happy?"

Alexis grabbed the plates from the cabinets and set them on the island.

--- "Yes, very."

Sam counted the plates and cups her mother was setting; there were only four.

--- "Um, so last night was a drive thru?"

Alexis poured the coffee into a mug and handed it to her daughter.

--- "What?"

--- "Red light, green light, one, two, three?"

She poured herself a cup and looked puzzlingly at her daughter. Normally she was able to keep up with her daughter's colorful ways with words, but she was sincerely at a loss.

--- "Will you speak English please, Samantha?"

The young woman took a sip of her coffee.

--- "You only have four plates here. I thought you were regrouting my bathroom floor last night—"

Alexis laughed to herself as she noticed the look of disgust on her daughter's face, causing Sam to frown.

--- "Mom, are you pulling my leg here? Or did you actually milk the cow?"

Alexis nearly choked on her coffee as she laughed at her daughter's comment.

--- "Samantha, I'll have you know that your mother does NOT milk cows; the bull is my animal of choice, and I was at the rodeo last night."

Sam groaned at her mother's candor.

--- 'I'm pretty sure I've just vomited in my mouth. Thanks for that LOVELY visual mom, ESPECIALLY if it's with my dad."

She smiled as she heard her daughter speak about her father. She almost regretted not having told her about him before, but the pain at having thought that he had abandoned her and causing her to have lost their daughter made the topic difficult.

Sam noticed a slight change in her mother's attitude.

--- "Mom, can I ask you something?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "You can ask me anything as long as it's nothing you know I wouldn't be too comfortable discussing."

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "You sure seem to be more open than a 7/11 this morning."

Alexis smacked her daughter's arm.

--- "Hush you. Now, what is your question?"

--- "Well, Dad told me you were quite the risk taker when you were Krissy's age. I guess I'm just curious as to what happened to you."

The memories of her time with Mathieu flooded her thoughts, but were immediately stopped by the wall she had built to keep them from hurting so much. Her eyes began to water as she thought about the biggest risk she had taken and how unsuccessful it had been; she looked at her daughter.

--- "I lost you."

Sam hated that she made her mother cry. She never intended to cause her pain.

--- "I'm sorry—"

Alexis was a bit taken aback by her daughter's apology; she had no idea why the young woman would apologize for something she had no control over.

--- "Sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry for; you were a defenseless baby."

--- "No, I'm sorry for making you cry."

She leaned in and caressed her daughter's cheek.

--- "Sam, I get upset every time I think about the time that I lost with you—"

--- "But you lost Dad, too."

Alexis clicked her tongue as she moved her head from side to side.

--- "You know, I did lose him, but it wasn't the same thing; I thought he left me. I thought he left us, honey. And then I lost you because I couldn't stand up to my father. That's when I realized that all of the risks that I had taken were for nothing; I didn't have you, I didn't have the love of my life, I was alone. I didn't even know where you were, Sam, or if you were loved. I knew nothing up until the moment I found out, or at least was told, that you had died… then Mati. That's when it really hit me: were the risks I had taken really worth it? The pain I felt in my heart told me that they weren't; so I stopped taking them."

Sam felt as though she was getting a clear understanding of the person her mother was; in her ten years of getting to know the woman and finally loving her, she had never felt more close to her than in that moment as they sat there discussing one of the most painful things that had happened in her mother's life.

--- "But I'm here, Mom; I mean, I've been here for the past 10 years, that has to count for something!"

Alexis took her daughter's face into her hands.

--- "It counts for EVERYTHING, sweetheart."

--- "But you haven't exactly been the daredevil—"

She laughed at her daughter's clear observation of her constant need for stability and order.

--- "What can I say? I'm a creature of habit! But, you know what, enough talk about me, let's talk about you."

Sam laid her head on the counter as she shielded her face from her mother's view.

--- "MOM! I don't want to talk about Jason or how you don't like him or anything to that matter."

She poked her daughter in the side before giving her a kiss on the top of the head; she took a seat beside her at the island.

--- "Honey, I'm not talking about that idiot—"

--- "MOM."

She put her hands up in innocence.

--- "Sorry. _Jason—"_

She said his name in a very snide manner that made Sam roll her eyes.

--- "Whatever; now what is it you want to discuss?"

Alexis took her daughter's hand into her own.

--- "I'm really sorry for embarrassing you yesterday; regardless of everything you did, you didn't deserve that."

Sam frowned at her mother; she was never one to apologize.

--- "You're actually sorry that you spanked me?"

The older woman scoffed at her daughter.

--- "Um, NO! That's what I said. I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I shouldn't have put you in time out, or at the very least, I should've waited until everyone was gone before I took care of you—"

Sam shook her head as she went to refill her cup.

--- "Wow, that's an interesting apology, Mom. I suppose I should take what I can get."

Alexis smiled, took a finally sip from her cup, and held it out to her daughter.

--- "Yea, I suppose you should."

Sam filled her mother's cup and retook her seat beside her at the island. Alexis continued speaking.

--- "I love waking up to having my three babies under one roof; and I especially love that they all slept like little angels on their Mommy's bed. I wouldn't mind having that more often."

--- "I know, I don't stay here very often."

Alexis hated that her daughter did not spend nearly as much time at home with her and the girls as she would have liked. Sure, she came over at least once a week for dinner, and they all met, either together or individually for lunch over the weekend or during the week, but it was not the same. She wanted her daughter around more often; despite the slight hiccup of the prior day's snowstorm, she enjoyed having all of her girls home.

She continued speaking.

--- "Well, I think that's something we should change."

--- "What is?"

--- "You staying here more often—"

Sam had a feeling she knew where her mother was headed with her inferred bout of nostalgia.

--- 'I'm not moving in here."

Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "I didn't ask you to."

--- "So what are you saying?"

She once again took her daughter's hand into her own and looked at them for a moment; she hated that she chose to wear black nail polish all of the time.

--- "Why do you wear black nail polish?"

Sam pulled her hand back from her mother.

--- "MOM! Seriously?! ADD much?"

She laughed at her daughter.

--- "I'm SORRY; I just don't get the black—"

The younger woman covered her face with her hands; she hated when her mother went on tangents whenever they were discussing something important.

--- "Can we please get back on target? PLEASE?"

Alexis stood up and began to fix the plates onto the table and retrieve the money to pay the deliveryman when he finally arrived with their breakfast.

--- "I'm just saying that I want you to spend more time here with your sisters and me. You have a room here that is never used—"

--- "Except for your romps on my bathroom and bedroom floors."

She once again laughed at the horrified look of disgust on her daughter's face.

--- "Well, like I said, if you actually used your bedroom and bathroom more—"

Sam smacked her hand on the island.

--- "Then you wouldn't have given it a coated polish last night?"

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

--- "Exactly, my little sunflower seed."

* * *

After breakfast was over, Kristina and Molly left to spend the day with friends and Morgan, respectively, leaving Sam and her mother to clean up the dishes.

--- "So, Mom, can you tell me what happened last night?! I didn't make a single snide joke during breakfast."

Alexis laughed as she packed the left over food into Tupperware.

--- "I swear, honey, you're just like your sister sometimes—"

--- "Krissy?"

She smiled at her daughter.

--- "No, actually I was talking about Molly. She likes to bargain to get what she wants."

Sam rolled her eyes as she cleared the dishes.

--- "Come on, Mommy! Don't you want to share with your wonderful daughter—"

--- "Kristina's not here—"

--- "Very funny! Come on, Mom! You haven't let me go to my room, and so you've obviously banned me from my bathroom, so I want to know what you did."

Alexis took the plates from her daughter's hands. She stacked them into the sink with the previous night's dishes.

--- "Fine; I wash, you dry."

********

**The Night Prior**

Kristina closed the door behind her two sisters. She chuckled as she watched Sam and Molly have a seat on the blanket that remained on the floor from their mother's "date" with Mac.

--- "You know, Sam, you're totally going to get into so much trouble for what you did out there."

She waved her flag at her younger sister.

--- "Please! How much MORE trouble could I possibly get into?"

Molly laughed.

--- "Seriously, Mom totally spanked AND put you in time-out. That was hilarious—"

Sam scowled at the young girl.

--- "No it wasn't Mol, that was beyond humiliating."

Kristina covered her face as she laughed at her sister.

--- "I'm sorry, but it was really really funny; like REALLY funny. I mean, can we see if your bottom is all bruised?"

Sam grew annoyed with her sister; she intended to get her back.

--- "You know what, if I showed you my behind right now, it was simply be for you to kiss it, Kristina."

--- "Real mature, Sam."

Molly waved her hands.

--- "Truce! Sam I'm sure the memory of being spanked at nearly thirty is more embarrassing than the actual punishment—"

--- "Yeeea, no, I don't think so, Mol. I'm PRETTY sure that having you and Crocodile Dundee over there cackling—"

Kristina frowned at her sister.

--- "Crocodile Dundee?"

Sam rolled her eyes; as far as she was concerned, her sister was the most overly dramatic human being to walk the face of the earth.

--- "Yea, Krissy, that would be you. Anytime you get into a smidge of trouble, you turn on the waterworks to get out of it. 'Oh Mommy, I'm soooo neglected by my daddy;' 'Oh Mommy, you want me to be perfect;' 'Oh Mo—'"

Molly interrupted Sam as she noticed that the conversation could not possibly end well between her two sisters.

--- "Hey, speaking of dads, I see that you and the totally debonair Mathieu are getting close! I'm so happy for you!"

Sam loved how mature her youngest sister was; she almost wished that Kristina would be a bit like Molly. Then again, she loved each of sisters for their distinctive personalities. Despite the fact that she found her middle sister to be immature and spoiled at times, there was no doubting the fact that she felt a closeness toward the little girl who had embraced her with open arms when it was discovered that she was Alexis' daughter. Regardless of the amount of times she butted heads with the teen, she knew that a lot of her problems truly did stem from a desire to be noticed; most importantly, noticed by her father.

--- "Thank you, Mol. I'm pretty happy as well. It's weird because two days ago, I didn't now anything about my father—"

--- "How come you never asked Mommy?"

Sam shrugged.

--- "I don't know. I figured that if she wanted to tell me, then she would have. You know how Mom is; she's always got something to say—"

Kristina nodded her head in agreement.

--- "Yea, I see what you're saying. If she had something to say about him that she wanted you to know—"

Sam finished her sister's sentence.

--- "She would have. I mean, I wasn't sure what happened."

She did not want to continue with her train of thought as she did not want to get into a conversation with her ten year old sister about sex and worse, rape. But it was true, Sam never wanted to approach the subject of her parentage with her mother because she was terrified of what she might find out about her conception.

Molly smiled widely.

--- "Well, look at what happened! It was like Romeo and Juliet—"

Kristina rolled her eyes as she took a bite out of her chicken.

--- "Yea, except no one killed themselves in the end—"

--- "True! But, Mom was like a Capulet, while Mathieu was a Montague! Their families were enemies—"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Mol, they weren't enemies—"

--- "But neither parent wanted the other with their child—"

Sam covered her face, as Kristina sighed in agitation. Neither sister could ever really talk Molly out of her illusions that every life story correlates to some tale that she had read.

--- "You know what, Mol, you're right. Okay?"

The littlest Davis shrugged and continued to eat. Kristina looked at her sister in almost envy; Sam had had a father for one day, really, and the man was highly attentive to her. She had had Sonny for her father, all her life, and yet he seemed to not be too concerned with her existence. It broke her heart.

--- "So, what's he like?"

Sam smiled as she thought about the conversation that she had with her father.

--- "He's great. He really is. He's everything that I could have imagined in a father growing up—"

--- "Is it from him that you got your danger junkie side?"

Sam scoffed at her sister.

--- "I am NOT a danger junkie!"

Kristina and Molly gave their older sister a look, which caused her to put her hands up in defeat.

--- "Okay, FINE; I will admit that I have a curious side—"

--- "Yea, that's what they call that."

Molly put her chicken down and looked at her sister.

--- "You know, you're just like—"

Both Kristina and Sam stopped Molly before she went into another synopsis of one of her books.

--- "You know what, I'll completely admit that I am an absolute junkie for anything and everything that's dangerous. And you know what, I think I get that from my dad, BUT I'll admit that I think that I might actually also have a smidge of it from Mom."

Kristina shook her head in disbelief.

--- "Mom is NOT a thrillseeker, Sam. She's as straight-laced as they come."

--- "She is NOW. But apparently, she took a walk on the wild side."

Molly pursed her lips as she thought for a moment.

--- "I suppose she would have to be to have had you, Sam."

--- "Gee, thanks Mol!"

She laughed at her sister.

--- "NO! You know what I mean, Sam! She had so many insurmountable odds with Mikkos and Helena, and feeling unloved, that she took a chance at love with this other foreign kid, who happened to become the love of her life, and then look at what happened! They made you! It's really a lovely story. If that's not a risk, I don't know what is. The risk on love is the greatest someone can take, you know."

Sam and Kristina looked at each other and threw their chicken bones at their sister.

--- "Shut up!"

***

Alexis sat uncomfortably at the head of the oval dinner table with Mathieu and Mac to either side of her glaring at each other.

--- "So, um, this chicken is pretty good, don't you think?"

Mathieu shrugs nonchalantly.

--- "I can't say that I care for this greasy type of food, but I like the pleasure of having you back in my company."

She smiled at the man.

--- "I suppose it isn't the greatest meal ever; I was never a KFC fan, but hey, this is better than nothing."

Mac looked at the woman. It amused him how vastly different they were; they were like night and day.

--- "You know, I love KFC—"

Mathieu scowled at him.

--- "You would."

Mac put his chicken down and glared at the man.

--- "And what is that supposed to mean, French Fry?"

Mathieu returned the man's threatening stare.

--- "It means that you cops are known for poor eating habits. While you sit around in your squad car waiting to arrest an innocent person—"

--- "Oh, you're still mad about that—"

Mathieu smacked his hand on the table.

--- "Of course I'm mad about that. If you're stupid officer wasn't so busy stuffing his fat, unfit body with donuts, he would have noticed that I was rolling a cigarette and not some marijuana stick. And by the way, perhaps if some of you would smoke some, you wouldn't be so high strung all of the time."

Mac pointed at the man.

--- "That officer is very well decorated—"

--- "Yes, I'm sure he is, with jelly stains on his tie, Chocolate on his shirt, tomato sauce on the side of his mouth—"

Mac pushed his chair back as though he would stand up to fight, but Alexis loudly cleared her throat. She let the two men argue previously because she was starving and was, quite frankly, too busy filling her belly to be too concerned with their pointless and juvenile argument. However, once the argument escalated to what appeared to be an actual fight, she would not have any part of that.

--- "Okay, I think it's time to end this. I already told you two that I'm not some kind of trophy you can win. This is ridiculous!"

Mac immediately began to apologize.

--- "Look, you know how much I respect you Lex, I don't ever want you to think that I find you to be like a piece of meat; we've been friends for way too long to have that be the way I look at you."

Alexis smiled at the man; if there was one thing she loved… liked… about Mac, it was his sincerity; he was always thinking about others. After years of getting to know the man, she knew his weaknesses, but found that his strengths far outweighed them.

--- "I know you do, Mac, and I respect you as well. I just don't like this constant bickering. I have three girls, I get enough from them—"

--- "Tell me about it, Robin and Maxie can get the same way."

She nodded in agreement.

--- "See! So stop it!"

Mathieu reached for Alexis' hand.

--- "I'm truly sorry, Alexandra. I never meant to insinuate that you were worth but a piece of meat. I always want you to know that even next to the most valuable work of art, you are worth more to me."

He always had a way with words that made her weak to her knees.

--- "Wow, Mati, thank you."

Mac rolled his eyes.

--- "Dear God, this is ridiculous. This man only wants to get in your pants Lex, how are you falling for his poetic lines?"

Mathieu laughed at the commissioner.

--- "Well, seeing as I've already been with Alexandra, and know her body better than the Lord who made her—"

--- "Highly doubtful—"

Mathieu pointed at Mac.

--- "She is built like a Goddess! Her body is unflawed—"

--- "Well CLEARLY you haven't seen her recently—"

Mac immediately turned red as soon as the words came out of his mouth; he once again put his foot mouth. He looked over to Alexis who rested her fists on her forehead as she looked down at her plate attempting to control her increased frustration with the two men.

--- "Lex, I'm so sorry—"

Mathieu scoffed.

--- "You have insulted the woman beyond words you idiot!"

Alexis looked up at both men; she took a deep breath to curb the rage that was filling her. Despite the fact that they both claimed to not think of her as property or a piece of meat, the fact that they were discussing who had her made her stomach turn in disgust.

--- "You know what, I'm tired of this. This dinner is over, this day is over, I want this done. You two are sitting here playing quien es mas macho with me, and I don't appreciate it! This is ridiculous! I'm sitting RIGHT HERE and you're talking about my body like it's nothing but a cheap blow up doll that you've managed to blow up. I don't appreciate this, not one bit! I think you should leave."

Mac nodded and stood up; he could not exactly blame her for being upset. This was clearly not the first time that he had managed to say something without thinking; this was by far the worst thing that he had said.

--- "Okay, I'm going to go, but I will call you in the morning."

She nodded her head and watched as he walked out of the house. She turned to Mathieu.

--- "What are you still doing here?"

He smiled at her as he took her hand and gave her a kiss on the back of it, before kissing the bottom of her palm; this had always put her in the mood. She pulled her hand from him.

--- "You know what, you need to stop, Mathieu—"

--- "Alexandra—"

She stopped him before he could continue speaking.

--- "Can you just call me Alexis, like everybody else?"

He passed his hand along her jawline.

--- "But, I'm not everybody else."

She shook her head at him.

--- "No, you're not, Mati; you happen to be the last living person, aside from that witch of a stepmother of mine, who happened to know Alexandra. She's my past; just like you."

--- "No—"

She nodded her head.

--- "Yes. I'm not that girl anymore, and the sooner you realize that, the better."

--- "You'll always be my Alex—"

She stepped away from him as he once again reached for her.

--- "No, Mathieu, I'm NOT YOUR Alexandra; I stopped being your Alexandra when you left—"

He felt as though had been punched in the gut by her last statement.

--- "You know that wasn't my fault! I never wanted to leave you! I wanted to be with you, to raise Samantha with you—"

She felt the tears welling in her eyes.

--- "I know that NOW, Mati, but I didn't know that then. When you left, I became someone else. When I had to give my baby up, by myself without her father to hold my hand, Mati, I ceased being YOUR Alexandra. To be honest, I stopped being Alexandra entirely. When I handed Sam off to another family to love her, I wanted to forget any of this, you, me, Sam, existed."

His heart was breaking as he heard for the first time how Alexis felt about him.

--- "You couldn't forget me… tell me you didn't!"

She wiped the tears the rolled down her cheeks.

--- "Not in the beginning. When I wasn't thinking about you, I was thinking about Sam, and then I thought about the life that we could've had together—"

He cut her off.

--- "The life we should have had together."

She nodded in agreement.

--- "Yes, but it didn't happen that way; we can't change that—"

--- "But we can make it happen now; have new memories."

She moved about the room when she felt him getting to close. She could not allow herself to be too close to the man that had held such a large part of her adolescent heart.

--- "Look, I think that what you need to focus on Mati is Sam. You and I were in the past; like I said, I'm not that girl anymore."

He wiped his own fallen tears; this was beginning to feel like the conversation they should have had all of those years ago when everything they had planned was taken from them.

--- "You don't love me anymore?"

She sighed and looked at the man who had managed to still retain his youthful and handsome looks.

--- "A part of me will always love you, Mati; I see you in our daughter, while you stand here, I can see you as that teen who swept me off of my feet—"

He moved close to her and grabbed her hands; he held them to his heart.

--- "So what's the problem?"

She took her hands from his, and held his face. She felt the stubble of an unshaved beard emerging onto his well-defined cheeks.

--- "The problem is that that is all I see, Mati! I don't know you. I don't know anything about you. And you don't know anything about me. We're just two people who shared a wonderful part of our lives together, and created something beautiful from that connection. For that I am eternally grateful because that girl is one of the three best things that I have ever done in my life."

She spoke to him in French.

--- "But Cheri, we're two strangers."

He did not want to hear this; he wanted to be with her. His heart and body yearned for her as though time had stood still for the twenty-nine years they had been apart. He loved her as much as he ever had.

--- "But don't we owe it to ourselves, to Samantha, to work to get back what was stolen from us?"

She released his face and smiled sadly. She spoke softly as she sat on the couch. She took a picture of her eldest from the console table and looked at it.

--- "And there lies the problem, Mati. You think that this is going to be some instant family; it doesn't work that way."

She held the picture out for him to see.

--- "Sam is an adult. We don't have to be together for her sake. Look at her; She's a big girl."

He took the photo and passed his finger over his daughter's image.

--- "I know she is—"

She cut him off.

--- "Do you really Mati? Because I think more than anything you want to treat her like a newborn and have that 'Daddy protects his baby from the world' relationship with her—"

--- "Isn't that what you have with her? Weren't you the one who put her over your knee like some child? Didn't you put her in time-out to embarrass her?"

She rolled her eyes at the man.

--- "I didn't embarrass her."

He pointed an accusatory finger at the woman.

--- "Yes you did! Why do you think that she did not want you touching her after the fact? She told me that she was completely humiliated!"

Alexis felt horrible at thought that she had caused her daughter such pain. That was not her intention; she loved her children too much to deliberately do something of the sort.

--- "Well, I'll speak to her and apologize. But the point of the matter is that Sam and I have been at this for TEN YEARS, Mati. I've known her since she was seventeen, and she's been my kid since nineteen. She's not that kid anymore. We've had out ups and downs; believe me. Sam has grown up immensely in all of these years."

He once again looked at the picture of his daughter.

--- "And I missed it all."

She reached for his hand and pulled him to sit beside her on the couch.

--- "No you didn't, Mati. She's still here, but she doesn't need a complete nuclear, mommy, daddy family. She's already had ten years of mom and sisters. Now, I think you need to focus on giving ADULT Sam a father, not the family she was supposed to have. Mati, add to the one that she already has."

He felt as though he were become aggravated; he needed Alexis to understand what he was saying, but she did not appear to.

--- "This isn't only about Samantha! I love YOU, Alexandra."

She shook her head.

--- "Exactly. You love ALEXANDRA—"

She stressed every syllable of her former name.

--- "I'm not her. You need to let go of her because she's not coming back. Alexandra died. She ceased to exist when I lost what was supposed to have been my family with you and Sam, but she officially died when she thought that Mathieu le Gros had also died all of those years ago. That chapter has closed."

--- "So let me get to know Alexis."

She smiled at his calling her by her name for the first time.

--- "I'd like that very much, Mati, but I think we need to be friends as you sort out your feelings for Alexandra."

He sighed.

--- "And you, do you love le poulet—"

Alexis covered her face at Mathieu's overt disdain for Mac.

--- "Will you stop?! He's the commissioner, not some kind of street cop. I've worked with him for years. I know Mac very well—"

--- "But do you love him?"

She bit her lip.

--- "It's way to soon for all of that. I love him dearly because of our history together, but we're not at the stage in our relationship to say I'm in love with him."

He let out a sigh of relief, but she put her hand up to interject his clear celebratory excitement.

--- "I want to make this quite clear to you: I love Mac because of the time that we've known each other, and the things he's helped me through. He's a dear friend that I happen to like in a romantic way. But, I also love you for the same reasons, but more so because of the things we've shared, and most important the thing we created: Sam. But, even though I love you, you have to understand Mati, I'm not IN love with you anymore. Right now, Alexis is IN love with her beautiful daughters."

He smiled at how happy she was. While he hated having been separated from her, he was happy that she had found something, three somethings, to live for. His heart filled with joy at the sight of her when she spoke about her daughters; he wanted that.

--- "So what does this mean? We're on the same level? Mac and I?"

She shook her head causing his smile to fade. She scooted over onto the couch and placed both hands on his shoulders.

--- "No. I owe it to myself and to Mac to see if what we have going is something special. I'm not going to drop this because some ghost from my past came back into my life."

He nodded and accepted defeat. He pressed his forehead onto hers and stared her in the eyes.

--- "Je t'aimes toujours."

She nodded and felt her tears fall freely from her eyes. She leaned into him and pressed her face into his neck, taking in his sent; he smelled like a cool summer's breeze on such a cold winter's day.

--- "I love you, too."

* * *

**Present Day**

Sam leaned against the counter as she dried the plate her mother handed her.

--- "So wait, you weren't with either one last night?"

Alexis smiled at her daughter.

--- "No, I WAS pulling your leg. I'm sorry, but regardless of my having already been with your father or partially with Mac, I was not about to either have sex with either one—"

--- "Or both."

Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter.

--- "Definitely not that, Samantha!"

She laughed at her mother.

--- "Hey, I just found out my mother has a daredevilish side to her."

--- "Yes, a SIDE; I can't say I'd ever see myself doing… that!"

Sam nudged her mother with her shoulder.

--- "You don't want to have your cake, and get eaten to—"

Alexis dropped the sponge and stared at her daughter in disgusted amusement.

--- "GEEZ, Sam! Where do you come up with these things?!"

The young woman shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I have no ideal it just comes to me."

--- "Well you need shock therapy because this isn't normal, AT ALL."

Sam smiled at her mother as she put some of the dishes into the cabinet. They could have loaded everything into the dishwasher, but neither woman thought to do that; they bonded over an old fashioned routine.

--- "Hey, I must have gotten it from one of my wonderful parents—"

Alexis stopped washing the dishes to look at her daughter.

--- "You know, I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that you and your father are getting so close. To be honest, I'm a little jealous."

--- "Why?"

--- "I don't know, I guess I just wish it would've been this simple for us—"

Sam bit her lip and nodded.

--- "Yea. But hey, look at us now! You and I are so close you abuse me in ways you never would the other two monsters you call children!"

Alexis laughed and flicked water from her hands at her daughter who retaliated by smacked her with the dishtowel.

--- "I told you that once they reach eighteen, there'll be no sparing them or their bottoms!"

Sam pointed at her mother.

--- "I'm going to hold you to that!"

--- "You may."

The two went back to washing and drying the remaining dishes. Silence filled the air but for the water running from the tap. Finally, as Alexis handed her the final dish, Sam thought of the most obvious question she had not thought to ask her mother.

--- "Um, so where's Dad?"

Alexis had been hoping her daughter would finally ask her that question; she had been waiting all morning for it.

--- "He's back at the hotel."

--- "You drove him there in the middle of the night?"

She shook her head.

--- "No, he left alone; and then I slept in your room because you three were hogging my huge bed."

Sam frowned at her mother.

--- "Wait, how'd he get there?"

She smiled at her daughter.

--- "In your car."

Sam threw the dishtowel onto the counter and glared at her mother.

--- "MOM! Is this your way to get me stuck here again?"

Alexis put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

--- "You call being with your Mommy stuck? Am I that horrible?"

She feigned a broken heart, thus causing Sam to roll her eyes at her mother.

--- "Never! I love being held prisoner with my family! But SERIOUSLY, MOM!"

Alexis gave her a kiss on the forehead before handing her the still wet dish.

--- "Will you relax?"

--- "Are you driving me to get my car back?"

She shook her head at her daughter.

--- "Negative. I have plans with Mac. But don't worry about that, I've already taken care of everything!"

The doorbell rang. Sam eyed her mother suspiciously. Alexis once again flicked water at her daughter.

--- "Don't stare at your mother like that, Samantha."

--- "Mom—"

The doorbell rang again.

--- "Don't keep the person waiting, honey."

Sam smacked her mother with the dishtowel before going out to answer the door. She shook her head when she saw it was Jason standing at the door.

--- "MOM, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"

Alexis stood in the kitchen buckled over in laughter.

--- "CHECKMATE, AMATEUR!!! Have fun with Daddy!!"

* * *

**So, we're at the turning point of our story. **

**Phase Two: New Relationships.**

**Are we excited??? Disappointed??? Air your grievances! I welcome them.**


	28. Noticing You, Noticing Me

Many thanks to those who take the time to review and give me ideas on what it is they're interested in seeing; I take everything you say into consideration. I thank you for your patience with the posting of this story.

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Noticing You, Noticing Me**

Deciding to get the car from her father later that day, Sam and Jason made their way instead to her apartment. It had been days since they were alone together; they decided to take advantage of the solitude.

--- "I'm totally going to get her back for that. She seems to forget that I'm a champ in the game of revenge. Can you believe she called me an amateur?"

She had been talking about her mother since she had gotten into the car, and continued as they walked down the hallway toward her apartment. He gave her a blank look that only she could decipher.

--- "What's the matter?"

Without a word, he took the keys from her hand and opened her apartment door. While he was a man of few words and tended to listen rather than speak, he was in the habit of actually answering her direct questions. She frowned at his silence.

--- "Jason?"

He walked into the apartment, and pulled her inside before locking and chaining the door behind them. He leaned his head against the door for a moment; she took it as a sign to continue talking as she removed her jacket and snow-covered shoes.

--- "You know, she told me that she wouldn't intrude on what we have going, but I think this is just her backdoor way of—"

Jason quickly moved to her, grabbed her face and passionately kissed her. He lifted her onto the desk; she was slightly taken aback, but quite frankly enjoyed his dominance.

--- "Hey—"

He shook his head as he placed his finger to her lips.

--- "Not another word."

If she continued to talk about Alexis, he was sure his icicle would melt and quickly evaporate without sign of a puddle. He wanted Sam and Sam alone, no words, no motherly, fatherly, or sisterly woes. He did not want to talk about the business, Maxie, Spinelli, or anything outside of the two people in the room at the moment. He did not want to talk about anything; he just wanted to be with the woman he loved more than his own life.

He pulled her shirt over the top of her head, bending to kiss her shoulder, and her neck, as she groaned in pleasure.

--- "I missed you."

She straddled him as he lifted her from the desk and carried her into the bedroom. He looked her directly in the eyes and kissed her once more.

When he entered the room, he practically threw her onto the bed before pulling off his shirt. She sat up and pulled him to her by his belt buckle.

--- "You know, I think I like having a couple of days away from you."

He ran his hands through her hair as she unbuckled his pants.

--- "You do?"

She stood up as she pulled the pants down.

--- "I do. I happen to like your passion; you're like a rabid dog."

He passed his hands all over her bare top before gently leading her back onto the bed.

--- "A rabid dog?"

She nodded coyly as she leaned in to kiss him, placing her hands right where she wanted them.

--- "I think it's time to give a dog a bone."

* * *

As Alexis was getting ready to run out to do the errands she had been unable to take care of the night prior due to the snowstorm, her phone rang; it was Diane.

--- "Hi Di."

Diane smiled largely at her friend's response.

--- "Yes, Lex, I just about DIED last night—"

Knowing her friend, that phrase could go about two different ways; she decided to let Diane define what she meant.

--- "What happened?"

The fiery woman rolled over in her bed, making sure to adjust the sheets on her body.

--- "Well, thanks to the storm, chestnuts were roasting on an open fire—"

Alexis blushed on the line.

--- "So, you got your prized stallion back?"

--- "I'm snuggling next to him right now!"

--- "And you're calling me?! What is wrong with you?"

Diane laid her head on his chest as she listened to the sound of his heartbeat.

--- "Nothing; He's sleeping! I wore him out. Last night was like the night of the living dead; he came to life like Lazarus! Oh, that's his new name. The snowstorm could not touch the amount of pent up—"

--- "DIANE!"

Alexis covered her face as she listened to the woman go on and on about how wonderful the night had been. She loved Diane, but she certainly had no interest in hearing about her wild and crazy sex life of swinging on a chandelier or ceiling fan… or being tied to the bedpost, or anything of the like.

--- "Wow, um, can we change the subject?"

Diane passed her hands all over her sleeping teddy bear; she pursed her lips at Alexis' lack of interest in her night's excitement.

--- "You have something more interesting to talk about?"

She could hear her best friend's annoyance.

--- "YES! I do have things that happen in my life as well, Diane!"

--- "You do?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. She chose to ignore the woman's doubting tone.

--- "I've made a decision—"

Diane quickly sat up in the bed, causing Max to stir in his sleep.

--- "A decision? Like THE decision?"

--- "Yes!"

She whispered into the phone.

--- "Did you… you know… with the French guy? I hope you chose him because Mac has all but proven that he needs a tune-up; his stick is defunct, broken, out…of… commission—"

--- "Di—"

--- "God knows that you need a nice strong drill to penetrate—"

--- "DI!"

Diane crawled out of the bed and reached for her robe.

--- "Please, you know that I'm right!"

Alexis shook her head. Diane was just like a sister to her, but there were times where she wondered how they were friends.

--- "Do you want to hear what I have to say or not? Or would you prefer to talk about naming the bats that must fly out of me every time—"

Diane could tell that she had hurt her friend's feelings. Being a witty and sarcastic person, she tended to things that were many times misconstrued and taken to be worse than she had intended.

--- "I'm sorry, Lex; please tell me what happened."

Alexis knew her friend well enough to hear the sincerity in her apology.

--- "Well, I ended up having dinner with Mati and Mac—"

--- "Where were the girls?"

--- "Sam decided to be an ass and say every inappropriate thing she could think of at the table in order to get back at me for spanking her."

Diane covered the phone as she laughed to herself; she knew she liked her best friend's wild and spunky eldest daughter for a reason.

--- "That's my girl!"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "YOUR girl? Really? Hmm, I guess I must have appeared rude by responding to 'Mom,' when she clearly meant you!"

--- "Oh whatever, Lex! That girl knows how to tell a good joke… perhaps you might want to take a few lessons from her."

--- "Okay, back to the story. So, Mati and Mac of course all but whipped out the tape measure to… you know… measure their… things."

Diane chuckled on the line.

--- "It amuses me how you're a woman of a certain age who cannot say PENIS. Embrace it, Lex. Say it!"

Alexis could feel her face burning. Growing up Cassadine, or rather in the Cassadine household, there were certain words that were never spoken; that particular word happened to be one of them.

--- "I know what it's called—"

--- "What what's called?"

--- "What you just said."

Diane was relentless.

--- "What did I just say?"

She sat on the couch and covered her face once again. If she could have reached through the phone, she would have smacked the woman.

--- "Look, my hearing is just fine! Now, BACK to my story—"

--- "Fine… you big baby."

While she was not one to back down, she hated when her friend called her that.

--- "PENIS, Diane, PENIS!"

The red-headed attorney smiled on the other line as she grabbed a goblet and her favorite bottle of wine.

--- "Isn't it liberating?"

Alexis sighed and continued her story.

--- "ANYWAY, as I was saying, they ended up arguing about who wanted me just to get me into bed…"

She knew her friend was about to interrupt her with a sly comment, so she cut her off before she got started.

--- "I swear to you Diane, if you make a comment about me being grateful to take my pick of either one because it's been SOOO long since I've been with anyone, I will come over there just to tell Max about your illicit affair with my washing machine."

Diane nearly choked on her wine.

--- "Well, seeing as you can clearly read my mind, I suppose I don't have to say anything more. Please continue."

--- "Thank you. Of COURSE Mac made another foot in mouth comment about my body."

--- "Ooh, he should seriously consider getting a DNA test on his kid because I sincerely refuse to believe that Maxie isn't his biologically; that child does not know when to stop."

--- "Pot meet kettle—"

--- "HEY! I'm just making an observation!"

Alexis could not fault her friend; Mac and Maxie certainly had a keen ability to say the worst things at the most asinine times. They were indeed a wonderful study on the nature versus nurture theory.

--- "I'll give you that. So I kicked them both out, except Mati obviously couldn't leave since his car is at the hotel—"

Diane got comfortable in her seat, she was waiting to hear her friend tell her about her wild and crazy night climbing the Eiffel Tower.

--- "He spent the night again?"

--- "No, Diane! We talked and I let him take Sam's car to the hotel. I told him that I couldn't be with him because he's too caught up with Alexandra, and she was whom he loved, not me. He doesn't know me, he's living in the past and the things that could have been."

Diane saw the way the two interacted throughout the snowstorm; it was obvious that he was enraptured with her, but for once, she could not get a read on her best friend.

--- "And what about you? How do you feel?"

Alexis sighed on the line. She knew that this was going to be a recurring question from all those who knew her and found out about Mathieu. She was confused. There was something to be said about having the first man… boy… you ever loved back in your life after having him taken from you, given birth to his child, had her taken from you, and then told that he died, return back into your life; if someone ever claimed that their heart would not be conflicted because of a circumstance such as that, they would surely be lying. But that was not reason to go back to the person. It was once upon a time when they were children.

Now, here she is, twenty-nine years later, with three beautiful girls who filled her heart with more happiness than she could have ever imagined, and a man whom she had known for nearly two decades interested in developing their relationship into something more. She saw in Mac everything that she had ever wanted in a man; she was not about to drop what could be for a man who was her could have… perhaps some would say, should have, been.

--- "I feel like I made the right choice in moving forward with Mac. You can't go backwards into the future, right?"

Diane raised her glass.

--- "Bon chance, mon amie."

* * *

Sam rolled off Jason after having spent the past couple of hours making love; while it had only been two days, she had missed him.

--- "Let's go again."

He kissed her as he let his hands wander about her body.

--- "You do know that we're going to need to get your car back from your father eventually?"

She groaned in pleasure at his touch, but grabbed his hand as it travelled down a secluded southern route.

--- "Don't bring up my father while your hands are… ooooh…"

He had used his other hand as he tapped in the security code into her gated community.

--- "Sorry."

He may have apologized, but he certainly did not stop as the code permitted him access; he passed along the path leading to his destination point. With every movement he made, she felt her feet curl and her knees bend. She pulled him to her, giving him a sultry kiss.

--- "Don't be—"

She breathed hard as she fell back into the bed. She gripped the sheets as she allowed him to work his magic; they did not call him the enforcer for nothing.

--- "No apologies necessary. You never liked to speak anyway… so… ooooh… no speaking…"

--- "Fine."

He passionately kissed her lips before following the Oregon Trail to her goldmine; there he remained until the mine shook and she pulled him back up to her, forcing him to evacuate the area before it began to flood. Just as the moment came, however, when what seemed as though only Moses himself could stop Noah's arc from emerging, her cell phone began to ring. Jason nibbled on her ear as she felt the wave come over her.

--- "Ignore it."

Even if she had wanted to answer it, she could not as her body convulsed, impairing her ability to speak. He kissed her all over her body making her senses wild.

--- "I… love… you…"

He smiled and whispered the words back into her ear as he allowed her to ride the waves that went through her body.

After a few moments, she rolled over and looked into his eyes. There was something hypnotizing about his blue eyes; it was as though looking into them made everything and everyone around her disappear. She remembered a time when those eyes drove her to the point of insanity; she would have done anything to keep them in her possession… in fact, because of them, she did things that she was not proud of as a result of the entrancing power they had over her.

--- "I'm glad we found our way back to each other. I never thought it was possible after everything that was said… that was done."

He pushed her now sweat-filled hair behind her ears. He had never felt a deeper connection with anyone than he did with her. Despite everything that they had been through, if there had been one thing about Sam that he had never received from the other women he had been with, it was acceptance; she never tried to change him. She understood everything that was going on in his mind, and never forced what did not need to be forced out of him. She took him for who he was, the good, bad, and sometimes ugly… even when the ugly was taken out on her. For that he would be eternally sorry.

--- "You are the one person I trust completely, and I am grateful to have you in my life."

Sam snuggled into him.

--- "It's amazing to me how not so long ago, I was alone. I didn't have a family, I treated myself like crap, and allowed others to do the same, but then you came into my life. You changed me. You literally completed me."

He shook his head in disagreement.

--- "No, you did that on your own. I think I may have pushed you in that direction after all was said and done, but you completed yourself and turned your life around. You got a great job, your own place, and mended the relationship with your mother—"

--- "Whom I wouldn't have found if it weren't for you."

She gave him a kiss on the lips; that was the one thing for which she was most grateful. Her family meant the world to her; she would do anything for them. Despite the problems she may have had with her mother in the past, there was never a time where she was not thankful to have her in her life. Having grown up lacking in any maternal love, Alexis' overbearing neuroticism was more than welcomed, even when it bordered on controlling.

--- I'll take that, but you completed yourself; I just gave you some of the pieces."

She nodded in agreement, realizing that he was right.

--- "Nonetheless, I thank you for setting me on the path because I'm happier than I've ever been. And now, we need to get up and meet with my dad; you have a lot of explaining to do before he finds out everything on his own."

He groaned in displeasure, praying that Mathieu was nothing like Alexis; he hoped that he did not have to go through the 'stay away from my daughter' battle, part deux. He watched as Sam got up from the bed without bothering to get dressed; he loved the confidence she had in her body. She picked up her phone and checked the voicemail, smiling as she listened to it.

--- "What is it?"

She walked to the foot of the bed and pulled the sheets from him, admiring his naked body. She would have ravaged him in that moment, but she was too giddy.

--- "Come on! Let's take a shower; I just got the best revenge for my mother."

* * *

After running several errands, dressed in a pair of old jeans, snow boots, and a sweater underneath her winter coat, Alexis decided to stop for a coffee at Kelly's. It was a miracle that she had survived the previous day's snowstorm without the diner's cup of Joe; she had made it a habit to have at least one cup from the restaurant every single day.

--- "Hey Mike!"

She walked up to the counter and gave her middle daughter's grandfather a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Alexis! How'd you do yesterday in the storm?"

He filled a cup and placed it in front of her.

--- "I was fine! Were it not for your breakfast here—"

He gave her a puzzling look as she sipped her coffee.

--- "Oh, Mac and Mati—"

The face continued. She put her cup down; clearly he was out of the loop. Usually news travelled quickly in that small town, but apparently the storm impeded the spreading of it… or Maxie learned her lesson from the many hours she spent in time out.

--- "Obviously you know who Jason is, so I'm assuming that it's the Mati character you don't know."

--- "Good guess, but I'm going to take a guess and say that all the food Mac ordered was for your house, and the Frenchman that came by not to long afterwards with the order of croissants and fruits was this Mati character?"

--- "How'd you know?"

He waved his hand around the diner.

--- "Lex, Port Charles is but so large; I know everyone who comes in here. When a man who looks like he's just had the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders comes in here ordering half a dozen croissant, fruits, and cheese, I notice!"

Alexis smiled; Mike did at some point serve breakfast to every Port Charles resident. Despite his connection to Sonny and his gambling issues, he was a great grandfather to her middle daughter, and even treated her youngest child as such.

--- "Okay, you have a point; you know all and see all! Mati, Mathieu, is Sam's father."

He was shocked by the news.

--- "Really? Wow, I didn't think you knew who he was—"

--- "MIKE!"

He covered his mouth as he realized how bad that sounded and what he was implying.

--- "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way!"

She took his hands into her own.

--- "I know you didn't. I've always known who Sam's father was; he was the love of my life—"

--- "So if he was the love of your life, are you sure that you're not going to string my dad along until you feel like rekindling the love you two once had?"

Alexis turned around to see Maxie standing behind her with her arms crossed. Robin stood beside her, shaking her head in annoyance at her cousin.

--- "Seriously Maxie, that was a bit uncalled for, don't you think?"

The young woman rolled her eyes.

--- "No, not at all! Mac has been single far too long, and I would hate it if he gave his heart away to her—"

--- "My name is Alexis, Maxie, and I'm standing right here—"

She turned to Mike.

--- "I'm sorry, Mike. Thank you for the coffee."

She took Maxie by the arm and led her to a far off table. Having spent an entire day with the young woman and practically biting her tongue to the point of severance, Alexis felt she needed to get to speak to her as though she were one of her own daughter.

--- "Let's get one thing straight, Maxie: I know I'm not your mother, and while I also know that you don't much care fore Felicia, and have very little respect for her, I'm not her; I expect to be respected—"

--- "Alexis—"

She shook her head, refusing to allow the girl to interrupt her.

--- "No, I'm not finished; you had more than enough time to talk yesterday, now it's my turn. I already told you that Mac and I are adults; we will do as we please, regardless of how you may feel about it. My relationship with Mati—"

Maxie was never one to listen.

--- "So you admit, you have a relationship with him?"

Robin smacked her cousin's arm.

--- "Will you let her finish?"

--- "No, she's just admitted that she has a relationship with the French frog! Aren't you concerned with how this will affect Mac?"

Alexis sighed in annoyance at the girl.

--- "Maxie, I HAD a relationship with Mati twenty-nine years ago when we were kids. Yes, we were madly in love, but again, we were kids—"

--- "So you're telling me that after all that and being separated from each other for years, thinking he was dead, he thinking that you refused him access to his daughter, only to find out that it was your parents who kept you from each other, that there isn't a little part of you who wants to rip his clothes off and start where you left off?"

She covered her face for a moment thinking about the most calm way she could tell the girl what she wanted to actually say to her.

--- "Maxie, [ahem] if Mati and I were to start off where we left off, we would have been mauling each other all day yesterday like rabbits to the point that you would have wished that we let you freeze to death outside in the cold. If we were to start off where we left off, no surface in that house would have gone untouched; the cream in your coffee would have been—"

She stopped when she noticed Maxie's mouth hanging open; that was her intended goal. She was tired of Maxie thinking that she could say and do just about anything to anyone, and the person would have no other choice but to take it. Alexis would never allow her children, even Sam (as was clearly demonstrated the previous day), to talk to her the way Maxie seemed to think that she could.

Robin smiled when she noticed her cousin's shock; she tapped the bottom of the young woman's chin in order to close it.

--- "Now, now, honey, this is Alexis, not Spinelli. Close your mouth."

Alexis covered her mouth as she stifled her laughter; she always liked Robin. She composed herself and looked at the young woman.

--- "Thank you, Robin. Maxie, aside from the other day at the restaurant, I had not seen Mati since I was sixteen. I don't have a relationship with him other than the one we share with our daughter."

--- "But you want one—"

She wanted to get frustrated with the young woman, but she knew that while Maxie was a grown woman, she was still scarred from her mother's abandonment and the toll it took on her father's heart; Alexis could not fault her for wanting to be the keeper of Mac's heart. She took her hand into her own.

--- "Maxie, if I wanted to be with Mati, I would be with him. I love Mati, that's true—"

Maxie was about to interrupt once more, but Alexis but her hand up as she continued.

--- "But, I am not IN love with him. I'm very interested in your father—"

--- "Probably in what he's got in his pants; it HAS been a while for you, hasn't it?"

Robin punched her cousin in the arm for that comment.

--- "MAXIE!

Alexis decided that it would be best to ignore the girl's comment as she would have liked to put her over her knee. If there was one thing she appreciated from her own daughter, it was the fact that she tended to know when she had pushed her to the limit… or at least she figured that much out after being taught that valuable lesson; Maxie clearly needed the crash course.

Nonetheless, she continued speaking as though she had not been once again interrupted.

--- "I'm even more interested in seeing where this thing with him is going. If I thought for one moment that my past feelings for Mati would have an impact on my "relationship" with Mac, I would not pursue this. Right now, I think Mati needs to focus on getting to know Sam."

The young woman crossed her arms against her chest as she noticed the devil walk into the diner.

--- "Well, talk about serendipitous!"

* * *

After making a very important stop, Sam walked into Mac's office at the PCPD and dropped a bag onto his desk.

--- "There you go."

He looked in the bag and smiled.

--- "Are you sure about this?"

Sam took a seat; it was strange to be there for the second time in a week and not be there for something she or Jason did.

--- "Mac, I know my mother better than anyone and more than she would like to admit. Now, I have a few things I'd like to speak to you about concerning my mom."

As much as he wanted to object, he decided against it; his daughter was probably somewhere running her mouth to Alexis, if she had not already done so. Actually, considering the havoc Maxie had caused the day before by putting her nose in Sam's business, he figured he owed the young woman a right to be heard.

--- "Alright, I'm listening."

She frowned; she was sure that she would have been met with resistance. She had even prepared a speech to counter his argument as to her right to talk to him about her mother. She was happy that he made her life so much easier… in fact, inadvertently, he had made Jason's life better as it meant a shorter amount of time her would have to sit in the car waiting for her to return; he refused to enter the precinct unless he was there for questioning or under arrest.

--- "Okay, well basically I wanted to make sure that you know that I will not sit idly by and allow you to hurt my mother—"

--- "Sam—"

She put her hand up to interrupt him.

--- "Let me finish. My mom deserves to be happy; she's been through enough crap in her life, some of which has been my fault, and I want her to be with someone who will love her despite her craziness. She's a fantastic woman with so many good qualities, and unfortunately, she has disgusting taste in men… I hope that her attraction to you isn't telling of the kind of person you are. I mean, I don't know you very well aside from your desire to bring me in here for anything that involves Jason—"

--- "I haven't done that in years—"

She pursed her lips as she looked around the office.

--- "It's only a matter of time."

He never understood what a smart woman, such as Sam, could ever see in a person like Jason. She had changed completely from the time she had come into town; he credited it to her mother's influence. He saw how happy Alexis had been when she dated Lucky; she hoped that her daughter would one day marry him.

--- "Look, you know that as long as you're connected to Jason Morgan and he continues to commit crimes—"

--- "Allegedly—"

He shook his head.

--- "Alleg—You've been around Diane for too long; you almost had me believing and saying alleged as though I really believe that your boyfriend were an innocent party."

She took a deep breath and looked at him. She hoped that this as not going to be a foreshadowing of things to come if he and her mother became serious; rules and guidelines would need to be established as she could see this causing a rift in her relationship with her mother who already made it abundantly clear that she did not approve of Jason.

--- "Mac, we're not here to discuss my relationship with Jason. Now, I could easily be one of those people who try to sabotage your relationship because I want my parents together, but I'm not. I actually see that my mother wants to see where this can go with you, and I support her one hundred percent. So, I just want to give you a few pointers on my mother."

Mac leaned forward. While he had known Alexis professionally for years, he had never known her… intimately… or personally.

--- "I'm listening."

She smiled.

--- "Okay, my mom is very complex, neurotic, controlling, obsessive—"

He cleared his throat.

--- "Um, are you trying to have me date her, or are you looking to scare me off because I've gotta tell you, if I didn't know your mother, you would have scared me off."

She knew that she had not started off correctly; she figured she would try again.

--- "Sorry! That was not my intention at all. Okay, basically what I was trying to say is that my mother likes to be in charge; she had spent so many years being controlled by her family, that now she has the need to always feel like she's in control of the matter… um, like her daughters—"

--- "So I see."

--- "Yes, so if she feels as though she is losing that control, she's going to run. She doesn't take too kindly to change, so don't try and change her. Um… she's never good at taking compliments… actually, she's REALLY bad at receiving them, but give them to her anyway."

Mac was actually shocked by this revelation.

--- "I would never have taken your mother to be someone who was humble—"

Sam shook her head and pointed her finger at him.

--- "And that right there is another problem! I need you to think before you speak. You really have this knack for running your mouth and saying things to my mother that her feelings—"

He never intended to hurt Alexis with the things that he had said; that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.

--- "I upset her?"

--- "She would never admit it, but yea, you know, when you tell her that you're shocked that she can still have children, or that she doesn't have a nice body, which by the way is absurd. My mom looks great for her age and for having had three daughters. But, she's self-conscious about her body, so she doesn't need to be told that it's not perfect. Goodness, she delivered Molly after a train wreck, and she had a portion of her lung taken out, she's got scars that she doesn't like for people to see, and you don't help by saying things like that to her!"

Mac felt horrible. He did not know what it was about Alexis that made him so nervous that he just spouted out things without thinking.

--- "I really don't know what to say—"

Sam smiled as she stood up to leave.

--- "Don't say anything unless you think about it first."

She opened the door.

--- "Look, my main point for coming here, aside from bringing you what you asked of me, was to tell you that if you hurt my mom, I will not hesitate to kill you."

She walked out of the office before Mac could say anything else to her. Some may have taken what she said in jest, but she meant every single word.

* * *

Alexis looked in the direction in which Maxie had pointed; there making himself comfortable at an empty table was Mati. She smiled knowing that he was probably there to meet Sam and Jason; she wished that she could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

--- "This is wonderful. Excuse me ladies!"

Maxie rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea, she doesn't have any feelings for him—"

Alexis gave Robin a look; the woman nodded her head. In response, Alexis smacked Maxie upside her head causing the woman to scream in shock. She decided not to bother responding to the young woman's squeal; instead, she took her cup and walked over to the man.

--- "Hi Mati! What are you doing here?"

He stood up to greet her. Even in her most simply attire, he still found her to be a vision; aside from the maturity of age, he found her to be just as stunning as she had been when he first laid his eyes on her all of those years ago.

He gave her a kiss on either cheek, but ensured to have his kiss on her right cheek linger for a moment longer as he took in her sweet smell.

--- "Alexa—Alexis, hi! I'm here to meet Samantha and her boyfriend. I bought her car; she will drive me back to the hotel because Jason has to go to work afterwards—"

Alexis rolled her eyes, but refrained from speaking. He marveled at her for another moment.

--- "You look beautiful."

She blushed at the compliment.

--- "I look like crap, but you're sweet to not admit it and lie to me. I mean, I haven't even showered yet! My heart feels as though it's going to shoot out of my throat, I don't have a stitch of make-up on, I had to come into town because I had a deadline to meet—"

He shook his head as watched her ramble; she was still the same as she was when they were younger.

--- "I think that without make-up, you are just as, maybe even more, stunning that you are when you have it on. I like to see you without the suit, and the briefcase; you look very… normal… magnificent."

She took a sip from her cup to hide her blushing cheeks.

--- "Um, thank you."

She looked up and noticed her daughter entering the diner with Jason sluggishly following behind her.

--- "Looks like our girl has arrived!"

He turned around to see the best thing he had ever created with the woman he had and continued to love; he stood up to greet her.

--- "Ma belle, ca va?"

Sam frowned at her mother sitting at the table, but greeted her father first. While she did not know a word of French, she assumed he was asking how she was doing.

--- "Hi Dad, I'm fine, thanks. Um, you remember Jason?"

He gave his daughter a kiss on either cheek before extending his hand to Jason.

--- "It's nice to see you again."

Alexis quickly drank the remainder of her coffee.

--- "Alright, I will leave you three to your lunch!"

She pulled Sam to the door, leaving Mati and Jason awkwardly staring at one another.. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and whispered into her ear.

--- "Honey, I hope you have a wonderful time with your father. I love you."

She attempted to pull away, but Sam held onto her so that she could whisper back.

--- "I love you too, Mom. Um, don't worry about the girls tonight, we're going to have a sleepover at my place so you and Big Mac can enjoy your evening together."

She wanted terribly to tell her mother what to expect of her evening, but she was certain that if she did not hear about it that night, she would certainly, the next day; she was patient.

--- "Aren't you a sweetheart?"

Alexis gave her a kiss on the cheek and cupped her face. She wanted to say something, but she simply looked into Sam's eyes; they were her father's eyes. She really was a beautiful combination of her parents.

--- "Bye, honey."

Sam frowned slightly at her mother's strange behavior, but smiled.

--- "Bye, Mom."

* * *

When she arrived home, she looked at the clock and realized that she only had an hour to get ready for her date with Mac. She did not know why she was so nervous, it was not as though she had never been on a date before. Then again, she tended to date homicidal maniacs, and apart from Mathieu, Mac would be the only person she was interested in… well, she was not interested in Mati like that anymore, but he was a mere example of two men she was at some point, or currently interested in that did not make a habit of killing people, or making a person feel like killing him (that would be Ric).

Considering how things turned out with Mati, she seemed to shy away from the good guys; she supposed it was because she felt that if she was going to get hurt, she might as well date the type whom she would assume and not be shocked to be hurt by. It hurt too much to go with the guy who purported himself to be kind and gentlemanly, but only stomped on her heart when she needed him the most.

After stepping out of the shower, Alexis' phone began to ring. She grabbed it and smiled to see that it was Mac calling her.

--- "Well, isn't this déjà vu?"

He frowned on the other line.

--- "What is?"

She balanced the phone on her shoulder as she quickly placed her robe on; if this were anything like the morning days prior, she would expect her middle daughter to walk in at any moment screaming like a banshee for the horribly blinding sight of her undressed mother.

--- "Me stepping out of the shower, you calling me."

He leaned back into his chair and smiled. He was happy that she had decided to see things out with him. They had known each other for years, yet nothing had ever developed between them. It was not that he was not interested in her, but there was always something going on in their lives that stopped one from noticing the other. There was her representation of Sonny, which he never understood; his raising of his three girls; her Cassadine family issues; his relationship with Felicia; hers with Ned; his raising his three girls; her attraction to Sonny; his raising his three girls; her mourning her sister's death; he trying to remain sane as he focused on the two girls remaining in his household; Stefan's death; her finding out about Sam; her cancer; defending her daughter's murder charges; battling Ric for custody of Molly; Georgie's death.

When he thought about everything, it seemed that her life was by far more interesting than his; but as he sat on the phone with her, he realized that even with the craziness in their lives, he had noticed her. While he was raising his girls, he saw a young goal-oriented woman who had had so much loss and suffering in her life, yet through it all remained calm and collected, raising three beautiful girls of her own. He noticed her and he hoped that she had noticed him as well.

--- "Hmm, I guess I can scratch asking what you have on right now; I have a pretty good idea—"

She chuckled on the line.

--- "You're a funny man, Commissioner, funny indeed."

--- "I try—"

--- "Now, what can I do for you?"

He laughed aloud into the phone.

--- "That's a loaded question Ms. Davis; are you sure you want me to answer that?"

She had noticed him. She noticed a man who was not only passionate about his job and keeping the streets clean of the likes she had defended, represented, bedded, and even married. She saw the unequivocal love he had for his three girls, none of whom were biologically his, yet he took in when their parents were either unable to care for them, or had been presumed dead. She noticed him.

She walked into her closet and began looking through her clothing.

--- "I suppose I don't want that… well, not now! Anyway, I'm glad you called me, perhaps now you'll be so kind as to tell me where it is you're taking me?"

--- "Sorry, but that's for me to know, and for you to find out when we get there."

--- "Will you at least tell me how I should dress?"

He smiled as he imagined her annoyingly attempting to find something to wear… that was exactly what she was doing.

--- "Just normally."

She groaned in agitation on the line; she had no idea what normal was.

--- "You do realize that I've just been told by my daughter that I need to loosen up and stop wearing power suits everywhere? That's normal to me, Mac."

He loved how he could empathize with her over their adult daughters; Maxie hated the way he dressed, and made it her business to use his credit cards to purchase closing she deemed more fitting for him.

--- "Well, if that's you, Lex, then be you. I want you to be comfortable because what we're doing, you may be very sore—"

--- "WHAT?"

--- "Well, it's obvious that it's been a while since you've done this."

She took the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment; she was not sure if she had just been around the likes of Diane and Sam for too long that she was misunderstanding what he was saying… or implying.

--- "Um, I'm going to go figure out what to wear; if I'm overdressed—"

He knew she was getting uncomfortable on the line.

--- "Don't worry Lex;if you're overdressed, there's an easy solution for that. Now get ready, I'll be by to get you in an hour."

He hung up the phone before she could say anything more on the topic; he needed to make a few phone calls to prepare for their date.

Alexis looked at her phone in agitation.

--- "Great! That was incredibly helpful and not to mention insightful, Malcolm Scorpio. You're so useful! I see why the PCPD is so efficient! UGH!"

She threw the phone out of the closet and onto her bed. She continued to flip through her clothes.

--- "Is he serious? First Samantha tells me I need to loosen up and embrace my sexuality… and get a stripper pole, and now this fool won't tell me where exactly he's taking me. I swear, they're working in tandem to make me lose my mind. I suppose that considering the amount of snow on the ground, he wouldn't be expecting me to wear an evening gown… Well, duh Alexis, it's only four in the afternoon… And I seriously doubt that he'd be taking me anywhere where a suit would be necessary; if he did, I think I would have to stop dating him on the spot."

She pulled out a pair of jeans and a nice form-fitting sweater.

--- "This had better be suitable because if it's not, I'm going to have to force him to eat my cooking as torture for being a complete ass."

She put her chosen outfit on the bed, and began working on her hair and make-up. She decided to go for the natural look, so she applied a small amount. She pulled her hair into a nice ponytail.

--- "I think this looks rather normal? I'm quite proud of myself!"

She finished dressing just as the doorbell rang. She looked at her watch as smiled.

--- "Hmm, nice to know he's prompt."

She walked out of her room and opened the door to find him standing in a pair of jeans, sweatshirt and his coat.

--- "So, are you ready to go?"

* * *

**I think I vomited in my mouth several times during the writing of this chapter. Those who chat w me on a regular basis or follow me on twitter are well aware that I am NOT a JaSam fan in the least bit. My allegiance is to Sam; I can't even say I tolerate Jason because I don't. However, since you JaSammers want him, you got him on _recurring_ basis... Oh happy day for you. **

**Just PLEASE remember that this is _NOT_ a JaSam story; it is a Sam and Alexis story on finding love (in the general meaning, not only romantic). **

**Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next update.**


	29. Gravediggers

This is another two part chapter. Considering the large amount of readers to this story (and UMR), expediency as to the second part is contingent on your five and ten dollar bills to Betty. (Those who read UMR on this site, Annie is BEYOND annoyed and frustrated in regard to the lack of response to the last chapter… Annie foresees a Bay of Pigs hostage crisis occurring)

**UNEDITED: PART ONE**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Gravediggers**

Alexis looked at Mac, dressed as though he were going to a ballgame, in absolute shock; never had she gone on a date with a man dressed in a sweatshirt. She held the door opened, and in absolute silence simply gestured for him to enter the house.

He smiled at her knowing that his attire had completely thrown her off guard.

--- "So, you look great!"

She hesitantly returned a smile to him.

--- "Uh, so do you!"

She stared him down from head to toe. He stood in her house dressed in an old paid of jeans, New York Giants sweatshirt, and sneakers, while she was dressed in her designer jeans, tight sweater and jeans; she could not believe she had put so much effort into her attire and he decided to look like a slob. It was no wondering why he was single.

--- "Thanks! So are you ready to go?"

He noticed the look of horror on her face, but did his best to hide his amusement. Alexis, on the other hand, scratched her chin before nervously laughing.

--- "Um, will you excuse me for a moment?"

He held back his laughter, as he knew that she was undoubtedly going to call Sam; the young woman had predicted that her mother would do such a thing.

--- "By all means, Lex. Take your time."

_**Flashback**_

_Sam, freshly showered, decided to call Mac back after hearing his message._

_--- "Hi Mac, it's Sam."_

_He had picked up on the first ring, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the young woman had gotten back to him._

_--- "Hi Sam; I need your help. There is no one who knows Alexis better than you, and while I'm sure you'd like nothing more than to have your mother dating your father—"_

_She cut him off midsentence for being so presumptuous as to what she would like. Actually, she was quite happy that her mother had decided to move on with her relationship with Mac because she wanted her father focused on her and her alone. As selfish as it may have seemed, Sam was not willing to share Mathieu with anyone, not even her mother._

_--- "To be honest, Mac, I'm glad she chose you; you're a great guy who's known her for years and has done nothing but treat her with respect and dignity. For once, I think that she has finally gotten it right."_

_He was relieved to hear that Sam approved of the relationship, or whatever it was that he and Alexis were starting. He had arrested or questioned the woman on the other line countless times before, and her mother had defended her each and every time, even when it was obvious that she was lying or covering up for her boyfriend. In regard to Jason, Mac had arrested him more times than he could count… or cared to attempt to count. If this thing he had going with Alexis progressed to something more, he knew this may wind up being a problem. Nevertheless, he figured he would cross that bridge once he got to it._

_--- "Thank you for saying that. Now, I need a huge favor. I already know what I'm going to do with your mother—"_

_--- "That is more information than I need to know, Mac!"_

_He blushed on the line._

_--- "You know what I mean, Sam! Now can you—"_

_As Mac told her what he needed, Jason snuck up behind her dressed in his own towel and gave her a kiss on the nape of her neck. She muffled the phone glared at him._

_--- "Stop it!"_

_Mac frowned._

_--- "Um, okay?"_

_Sam turned around and smacked Jason in his bare chest as he ran his hand underneath her towel. She mouthed for him to stop, and pointed to the phone._

_--- "Oh, sorry, uum, I was uh, never mind. So, er, yea, I'll take care of that! But Mac?"_

_--- "Yea?"_

_She pulled her towel tightly around herself before moving away from the man's traveling hands._

_--- "I hope you know that she's going to freak out… I mean, she's going to think you are the worst thing since the Bush administration, and I have to tell you, that's saying a lot."_

_--- "You think it's that bad?"_

_--- "I think it's the PERFECT date, actually. My mother… she'll think you're nuts, but she'll give you a chance. I mean, she might call me constantly, but I'm sure she'll realize that she hasn't had such a fun date in a while and she'll be appreciative of you for that."_

_Mac smiled. It had been quite some time since he had had a date, but knowing Alexis, he knew that he did not want to do the standard dinner date; she was better than that._

_--- "I really appreciate your help, Sam."_

_She nodded as she continued to muffle phone while Jason trailed his finger along the nape of her neck and down her exposed back._

_--- "Um, no problem; anything for my Mom."_

_--- "Don't forget—"_

_--- "I won't Mac! I'll be right there!"_

_She hung up the phone before turning around to pull Jason's towel from his waist. She smacked him with it._

_--- "You are so bad! If I weren't so excited for my mother, I'd punish you."_

_He pulled her to him and kissed her gently._

_--- "Never mention punishing me and your mother in the same sentence again."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Alexis walked into her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone. She knew that Sam was probably still talking to her father, but she needed her help; this seemed almost unacceptable. What could be said about a man who showed up on a date in such a slovenly fashion?

She hit the speed dial and waited for her daughter to respond.

* * *

Sam watched as her mother left Kelly's to get ready for her date with the commissioner. She wanted nothing more than to laugh hysterically in the middle of the diner, but she knew that doing such a thing would only make her appear, for lack of a better word, absolutely insane. As a result, she swallowed the laughter attempting to escape from her throat and walked back to the table where her father and boyfriend waited for her.

--- "Dad, I'm glad you're finding your way around Port Charles so easily. So, do you think that you'll really stay?"

--- "Perhaps. When I was first offered the position at the hospital, I thought if I took it, I would only stay here for a few years, but now—"

He took her hand and kissed it.

--- "I think that I will stay as long as I'm welcomed."

Sam smiled from her father to Jason, who sat uncomfortably, yet supportively, beside her.

--- "Well, I guess I should say, 'welcome to Port Charles… Dad.'"

--- "Thank you, ma belle. Now, I suppose we shouldn't beat around the, how do you say, bush?"

The young woman snickered to herself; Jason gave her leg a squeeze before leaning into her.

--- "Get your mind out of the gutter, Sam."

She gave him an innocent look.

--- "Shut up, I wasn't—"

He blankly stared at her in a way that only she could interpret. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Fine, you're right."

Mathieu watched the interaction happy that his daughter was clearly happy with this man. However, there was something off about Jason that the family had spent the entire day attempting to shield; the purpose of this lunch was to have the mystery resolved.

--- "So, Jason, what exactly do you do for a living?"

Sam who had begun to take a sip from her coffee, burned her lips on the hot drink.

--- "Sh!t!"

Mathieu quickly handed her his untouched glass of water.

--- "Are you alright, cherie?"

She nodded.

--- "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Daddy. Um, you know, I have to say that I really appreciate how concerned you are about me—"

--- "Of course I would be concerned about you, Samantha; you're my daughter."

She took a sip from the water to cool her burned lips and tongue.

--- "You know, Dad, you still haven't told me what it was that stopped you from trying to find me when you thought Mom had raised me, but kept you out of my life."

Mathieu shook his head and smirked. This was the moment for which he had been waiting since his daughter and her man friend arrived at the diner.

_**Flashback**_

_After informing him that they could not be together, Alexis decided that she should probably give Mathieu the "Samantha For Dummies" handbook seeing as he was going to have a long awaited conversation with their complicated, yet predictable (to those who knew her well) daughter. She was not about to allow Sam to wiggle out of this by distracting the man who was clearly going to be wrapped around the young woman's finger._

_--- "Mati, there are three things you need to know about our lovely daughter."_

_He braced himself for the revelation into Sam's mind._

_--- "Okay, vas-y."_

_He told her to go ahead and lay it all out for him. _

_--- "The first thing is that Sam is a con—"_

_He frowned at the first revelation. He was not sure he liked Alexis' description of their daughter; this was something of Sam's past, but it was being used against her as though she were still that same young and lonely girl._

_--- "Wait a second, Alex—"_

_Because he was not yet used to calling her Alexis, he resigned himself to calling her Alex; it seemed like a good compromise._

_--- "I don't think it's right for you to call her a con. From what she's told me she's changed her life—"_

_Alexis rolled her eyes at the man. It amused her how he attempted to correct her on something he knew nothing about; she almost took offense at his presumption that she was judging her daughter._

_--- "Before you continue your statement, Mati, perhaps you will allow me to finish discussing this woman whom I've had the pleasure of mothering for the passed ten years?"_

_He crossed his arms._

_--- "Fine."_

_--- "Thank you. I'm well aware that Sam has changed her life; I was there after all—"_

_She noticed the pained look in his eyes, so she softened._

_--- "What I meant was that ALTHOUGH she is no longer using her conning 'talents' on perfect strangers, she certainly takes no issue using what she's learned in the streets on her loved ones... at least on those foolish enough to fall for her tricks. She's sneaky; if she catches your weakness, in your case it would be your desire to have a relationship with her, she'll prey on that to get her way of either avoiding a difficult or unpleasant subject or just to have control of the situation."_

_Mathieu smiled in amusement at Alexis' description of their daughter; Sam was not too different than he when he was a teen. From what he had witnessed, she was also determined and ambitious. He liked hearing this about his daughter._

_--- "Okay, I think I can handle this."_

_She raised an eyebrow noticing the wheels in his brain spinning, but she continued._

_--- "Secondly, Sam is a brilliant liar. She will, if you allow her to, tell you the sky is purple and green, singing 'I Love You' songs, and you'll believe her. She is THAT good. Honestly, she should be in Hollywood winning an Oscar for the performances she's attempted to pull with me." _

_He laughed aloud causing Alexis to smack him on the arm._

_--- "That's not funny, Mati! If you're not careful, you'll fall for her tricks to either get out of trouble, or to hide how she's really feeling… or worse."_

_She thought about the previous night's dinner and how Sam had conned her into going to dinner by claiming to want to spend more time with her when in reality to she was setting her up on a date with Mac. Well, considering the present circumstances, she was grateful for her daughter's acting chops._

_Mathieu nodded his head in agreement. _

_--- "Our daughter is a liar who shouldn't be trusted, okay."_

_Alexis shook her head; she was in no way attempting to make Sam out to be a dishonest person._

_--- "No, that's not what I said—"_

_--- "Excuse-moi, cherie, but you have just called our daughter a con and a liar in less than five minutes—"_

_She felt herself getting upset at how she may have made Sam appear to her newly discovered father, when she noticed that he was smiling at her. She smacked him hard on the arm._

_--- "That's NOT what I meant, and you KNOW it! Sam is—"_

_He took her hand into his and interrupted her._

_--- "Before you clarify what you were saying and before you tell me the third thing I should know about our daughter, may I tell you what I've noticed?"_

_She tilted her head to the side before smiling._

_--- "Sure."_

_--- "Okay. I know that when she's upset and feels the need to lie so you don't know this, she bites her lip when she is nervous, or she rambles thoughtlessly, fidgets, and then she becomes defensive when she feels uncomfortable or put into a corner from which she cannot escape. I notice that she when she is very happy or excited, the dimples on her cheeks are very prominent, but when she's upset her nose turns slightly red and stuffy. When she is with her family, her eyes light up and even though she may become upset with you or her sisters, that light never goes away."_

_Alexis bit her lip._

_--- "Wow, I'm impressed! You're quite observant and a few steps ahead."_

_He passed his hand over her cheek as he smiled sweetly._

_--- "I know all of this about our daughter because you do the same thing, Alex. You've always done the same things."_

_She covered his hand with her own before moving it away; she did not want him to think that he could suck her into the past again._

_--- "Well, that may be true, but the final thing you should know is that as you said, our daughter loves her family immensely; and we do her. As a result, she is loyal to a fault of those she loves; she will defend and protect them at all costs."_

--- _"Like her mother."_

_She nodded in agreement before giving him a serious look._

_--- "I will do whatever necessary to ensure my daughters' happiness. While I know that you want nothing more than to have a relationship with her; do not break her heart, Mati. Sam isn't perfect and her life isn't exactly what I would have wanted for her, but as long as she's happy, then I am. I will give you these words of advice: listen to her, accept her, and do not interfere. I know you think I treat her like a child, but that is our relationship; there are lines that even I will not cross… I suggest you follow suit. If you do not, believe me, it won't end well for you."_

_She handed him Sam's keys with a Cassadine smile. _

_**End of Flashback**_

Mathieu kissed his daughter's forehead.

--- "On en va parler plus tard, ma belle."

He noticed the look of confusion on Sam's face; he felt a dull pain in his heart that she was unable to understand his native language.

--- "Later, my love. For now, I would like to get to know Jason—"

Sam sighed as she thought of another way in which she could move the conversation from Jason's line of profession, but Mathieu continued before she could interrupt.

--- "So, Maxie made many comments yesterday that lead me to believe that you were a little bit more than a coffee importer."

Jason stared at the man.

--- "Well, Maxie isn't known as the pillar of truth, Mathieu."

--- "This is true, but by the way everyone reacted, I have a weird feeling that when she mentioned dead bodies and dumping them; are you a grave digger?"

Sam covered her face; she wondered how Jason could possibly explain to her father that he was an enforcer who took out those who were disloyal to her younger sister's father. This was a nightmare.

--- "No—"

Mathieu pressed.

--- "So what is it?"

Jason took a deep breath and sighed.

--- "Let's just say that I provide a special form of security for a certain person in town, along with those under his protection."

Mathieu looked from Sam (who was clearly mortified) to Jason.

--- "What does that even mean?! Look, from what I can tell after spending a day with Maxie, whether or not you say she's reliable, I certainly saw how Diane reacted; you've been arrested numerous times. En fait, you have a lawyer who represents you… comment on dit en anglais?"

Because, when he drew important conclusions, he thought in French, but in this situation needed to discuss them in English, the languages merged.

--- "Jason, are you a criminal?"

While Sam nearly fell off of her chair from her father's blatant question to the man she loved, Jason merely cleared his throat.

--- "No."

Mathieu looked at the man incredulously. First, he could not believe that after such an accusation a person would simply answer 'no,' without any effort to defend himself; secondly, he simply did not believe him.

--- "You are not a criminal? What is an enforcer?"

--- "Someone who enforces the wishes of my employer—"

--- "Who is your employer?"

Sam could no longer take this interrogation.

--- "Daddy, you know what, I don't appreciate the way you're attacking him—"

--- "I'm not attacking him, Samantha; I just want an answer. I don't believe that he's a coffee importer because it doesn't make sense—"

--- "What difference does it make, anyway?"

Just as he was about to respond, Jason's phone began to ring.

--- "I have to take this."

He walked away from the table leaving Sam to continue to argue with her father.

--- "Look, I'm a grown woman, and whom I choose to date is my choice. I'm not going to stop dating him regardless of if you like what he does or not—"

Mathieu crossed his arms and stared at his daughter. He knew that he had not right to dictate anything about her life, but he was nonetheless worried about whom she decided to associate.

--- "You know what, you're right. I suppose if Alex is fine with this—"

She pursed her lips as she defiantly looked at the man.

--- "My mother knows that she doesn't have a choice in the matter; she can either accept that I'm dating Jason, or she can not and not interfere. Either way, Jason and I are solid. I love my mother, and I love my family, but they will not choose the person I love. And I'm sorry, Mathieu, but neither will you."

He felt a stab in his heart. He remembered Alexis' words: _'Oh, and Sam WILL, if she's exceptionally upset with you, revert to calling you by your first name just because she knows it will hurt you. So, I suggest you not continue with her on that subject when she gets to that point; let her cool down.'"_

He stood up and gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "You know what, Samantha, I'm sorry I offended you. You're right; I do not have a right to tell you what to do. I'm just worried about you; perhaps it is too soon—"

She noticed his hurt, but she could not yet allow her wall to drop.

--- "I think you're right."

--- "So, I'm going to take a taxi—"

She shook her head.

--- "No, I told you I would take you back to your hotel; I'm going to do just that."

Before he could respond, Jason returned.

--- "I'm sorry Sam, Mathieu; I have to leave."

Sam nodded; she knew he had business to handle for Sonny.

--- "Alright… um, I'm having a Girl's Night In with my sisters, so just give me a call tomorrow, okay?"

--- "Sure."

He gave her a quick kiss before nodding in acknowledgment of Mathieu's presence.

--- "It was nice seeing you again, Mathieu."

The Frenchman extended his hand.

--- "Likewise."

Jason shook the man's hand, nodded once again, and left leaving Sam with her father.

--- "So, are you ready—"

Her phone began to ring; she immediately knew who was calling. She put her finger up to her father.

--- "Hi Mom."

Alexis groaned on the line.

--- "Samantha, he is wearing an old sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers."

Sam bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. She took a breath before responding.

--- "Wow, um, what are you wearing?"

--- "A nice sweater, jeans, and heels."

Sam breathed out deeply as the laughter threatened to escape from her lips; Alexis heard the act.

--- "Are you laughing at me? Do you think it's funny that this man thinks it's appropriate to wear what he's wearing to go out on a date with me! I mean, really, he looks like he's going to clean the attic—"

--- "I'm sorry! But did you ask him what you would be doing? Perhaps you're overdressed."

If she could have reached through the phone to smack her daughter, she would have.

--- "HOW AM I OVERDRESSED?! I'm dressed 'NORMALLY!' He's underdressed—"

--- "How do you know that?"

Alexis took note of the tone of her daughter's voice; she knew her too well.

--- "Where is he taking me, Samantha?"

Sam hated that her mother was able to read her… even over the phone.

--- "I'm sorry?"

--- "Did you suddenly lose your ability to hear me? Where is Mac Scorpio taking your overdressed mother on her date? The city dump? McDonalds?"

Sam laughed aloud.

--- "Aren't we a snob, mother? Do you know that there are people who go on dates to McDonald's because they can't afford any better, and here you are turning your nose to it? You should be ashamed!"

She rubbed the bridge of her nose in agitation.

--- "Samantha, I am not in the mood for your sarcasm! Now, tell me where he's taking me."

--- "Um, I don't think so."

--- "Why not?"

Sam looked at her father with a smile.

--- "Because it's a surprise. Just relax; stop being a prude. Learn to live a little."

Alexis ran her hands through her hair.

--- "Fine, you don't want to tell me. But you know what?"

--- "What?"

--- "The next time you need a huge favor or a revelation of some surprise voyage to hell, and I'm aware of it, I'll do the same to you."

She smiled as she imagined her mother's increased trepidation.

--- "Mom, first of all, that's fine. And second, I'm being super rude right now—"

--- "Oh yes, your Mati and Jason encounter; how'd that go?"

She glanced quickly at her father who was standing by the door waiting for his ride back to the hotel.

--- "We'll discuss that tomorrow."

While Alexis did not like the sound of her daughter's voice thereby leading her to believe something bad had happened, she decided to wait until Sam decided to bring up the subject."

--- "Okay, but sweetheart, please remember that I'll be there for you at anytime… just call me and I'm there."

As much as Alexis knew Sam, Sam knew her mother.

--- "I'm NOT going to be your reason to break this date with Mac! Aren't you the one who's always talking about keeping out commitments and all that crap?"

--- "You never listened to me before, but now you're throwing the silly sayings of a batty old woman in my face? That isn't very nice, Samantha."

Sam laughed at the woman's panic.

--- "Well, you're going to have to be a big girl and just deal with whatever he's got planned. Who knows; you might enjoy it. Now, go back to him, Mommy. I love you."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Fine, I love you too, sour sport."

Sam put her phone back into her back pocket and turned back to her father. She was still upset with his behavior concerning Jason and his profession, but her conversation with her mother lowered significantly the wall she had built against Mathieu.

It seemed as though she was going through a déjà vu of sorts with his reaction to Jason as Alexis had when they first discovered their relationship to each other. She realized that while neither she nor Mathieu had any baggage at each other's doorsteps, their relationship would take just as much work, if not more, to establish than the one she had with her mother. She was no longer a young and rebellious teen with self-esteem issues; she was now a fully grown adult with a life of her own, a career, and a family she loved. Yes, she had room for a father, but she was not sure she needed to be fathered. Nevertheless, she was willing to give him a chance.

--- "So, I guess we can get going now."

He smiled when he noticed her changed temperament towards him.

--- "Yes, I suppose we can."

* * *

Alexis hung up the phone and begrudgingly walked back into the living room where Mac remained standing in his spot by the door. He held her coat out to her.

--- "So, what did Sam say?"

She eyed him suspiciously.

--- "Have you been speaking to my daughter about me?"

--- "How could I possibly have been speaking to Sam when it's evident that you ran off to call her—"

--- "I did not RUN off—"

He shook her coat so that she would come closer so that he might help her into it.

--- "Fine, you scampered off to call your daughter and tell her about the sloppy man that's come to take you out on a date."

She allowed him to help her with her coat.

--- "That's not exactly how it went, but I guess you're halfway right. Mac, seriously, you look like you're here to clean my gutter!"

He opened the door and smiled.

--- "Maybe later."

--- "Very funny."

She locked the door and followed him to his car.

--- "So, where are you taking me?"

He smirked as he closed the passenger side door and stepped into the driver's seat.

--- "And how was your day today?"

--- "You're ignoring my question!"

He pulled out of the driveway and began the ride to their destination.

--- "No, I'm EVADING your question. Now, what have you done all day?"

Knowing that she would not get an answer to her question, Alexis decided that she might as well answer him.

--- "It was fine. I ran some errands, then went to Kelly's and you won't believe who I ran into!"

--- "I'm almost afraid to ask."

--- "Oh don't be! I only ran into your always lovely daughter!"

Mac groaned in agitation.

--- "What did she say… or do?"

Alexis rolled her eyes as she thought about her encounter with the man's daughter.

--- "She did what she clearly knows best to do; she lectured me about dating you. She wanted to make sure that I was not into Mati, and that I was not having or interested in having a relationship with him—"

--- "And are you?"

She glared at the man; she was growing tired of having to justify her decision in choosing to explore this… thing… she had with him.

--- "Would I really be sitting in this car with you dressed like… that… if I wanted to have a relationship with Mati?"

He stopped at a red light and stared at her; she looked nice. No, she looked better than nice; she was sexy. He enjoyed the way her eyes seemed to sparkle when she was annoyed, and how she ran her hands through her hair from frustration. Most of all, he enjoyed the fact that she was simply sitting in his car telling him how his daughter managed to once again be the bane of someone's existence.

--- "I guess you wouldn't."

He smiled at her with those beautiful indistinguishably colored eyes. She could not tell if they were grey or green; at times, they almost appeared blue. Regardless, they captured her.

--- "You guess? You KNOW! I don't go around wasting my time, Commissioner. Anyway, I made sure to inform your daughter that her doubts and uncertainty are ill-placed, and I've no intention of hurting you."

--- "That's good to know. Look, I know that I'm not Mati—"

She feigned surprise.

--- "You're not?!"

--- "Ha! Ha! No, I'm not. And I know that we don't have the history that you share with him, and goodness knows that's quite a history—"

She interrupted him.

--- "Mati and my history is something from another lifetime. I don't know him. I made closure with the boy whom I knew and thought was dead a long time ago. Mati is a new person, and Alexandra is non-existent. I'm Alexis, and I'm not looking backwards, I'm looking forward."

He nodded his head as he pulled into the parking lot of their destination.

--- "Well, my dear, I believe it's time you looked directly forward because we've arrived."

Alexis' mouth fell open in shock.

--- "THIS is where you're taking me? Is this some kind of joke?!"

He unbuckled his seatbelt, stepped out of the car and opened the passenger side door with a wide grin on his face.

--- "Why would I joke about this? Come on!"

She shook her head as pulled the door closed; she needed to make a phone call. She glared at him as she waited for a response. Mac, on the other hand, leaned against the car smiling at the woman's distress.

--- "Well, I assume you've arrived at your destination?"

Sam laughed on the line to Alexis' utter annoyance.

--- "You had better start having serious daddy issues within the next five minutes or else I'll make you regret the day you found out I was your mommy."

* * *

_It takes hours from my busy schedule to write for your entertainment… please take two minutes to write an __**actual **__**review**__ of the chapter __**(if you haven't done so for UMR, I'd appreciate it if you would there as well as THAT chapter was… [fill in the blank]).**_

_I love reading ACTUAL thoughts (not please update soons) on what I've written; it keeps me motivated as it actual shows that you're invested in the outcome of the story AND it gives me new ideas. I won't apologize for holding chapters hostage._

_I don't think it's too much to ask for, and it's a courtesy that should be extended to the authors of all the stories you read on this site._

_**I feel as though this chapter focused more on Sam, Part 2 shifts more to Alexis and her date.**_


	30. Whip Cream,Strawberries,Meat and Mallets

Well, my birthday is this weekend, and as I've given you two updates in a week of this story, my weekend of complete and utter debauchery will not give way to another update. So, for those who do not read UMR (I assure you, you're missing out), don't expect an update to this story for another couple to few weeks. I suppose that gives you time to review.

UNEDITED.

**PART TWO of THREE**

**Chapter 30**

**Whip Cream, Strawberries, Meat and Mallets**

Mac tapped on the window and nearly fell over in laughter as Alexis turned to glare in his direction. She could not roll down the window as he was in possession of the car keys.

--- "Samantha, hold on—"

Sam apologetically looked at her father.

--- "Sorry… Mom—"

Alexis put her finger up to Mac who impatiently tapped his watch; she returned to her phone conversation.

--- "You listen to me you two foot tall munchkin, you had better have a damn near mental breakdown so loud that when you call me I will be forced to put you in Shady Brook—"

Sam was grateful she wore a headset as she gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and squeezed her father's arm with the other to keep herself from laughing hysterically at her mother's theatrics.

--- "You are seriously overreacting right now, Mom. Now, I'm hanging—"

--- "SAMANTHA—"

--- "—up. Have fun, and stop calling me."

She hung up the phone.

Alexis slammed her head against the headrest as Mac tapped once more.

--- "Lex, come on! Costco starts to get packed around this time; unless you want to spend your entire day here, I suggest you come out of the car."

She took a deep breath and muttered a variety of curses in the numerous languages she spoke before unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door.

--- "I now see why you've been single all of these years Mac Scorpio. What the hell is THIS!?"

He winked at her.

--- "Perhaps you're right, but I am now curious, after spending an entire day with you and your family, how any one of you are alive."

She stopped in her tracks to stare at him.

--- "What is that supposed to mean?"

He grabbed a cart and pulled her beside him.

--- "Come on, Lex, don't dawdle."

He waved his arms in the air taking in the large warehouse they had just entered.

--- "THIS is what we call a step up from a supermarket; do you know what a supermarket is?"

She scowled at him.

--- "YES, I know what a supermarket is, Mac!"

He smiled at her frustration.

--- "Well, I was a bit concerned considering the fact that all you had in your fridge was spoiled milk, and stale marshmallows in your cabinets. Good grief, you didn't even have popcorn in there! God knows you have a sick addiction to the stuff. Aside from that, what do you feed your kids?"

--- "I feed my girls take-out. I figure that that is far more nutritious than what I could ever provide them."

She crossed her arms as she begrudgingly followed him passed the computers, movies, detergents, and clothes.

--- "Now, call me nuts, Mac, but I haven't seen one thing here that I could feed them; I might be a horrible cook, but I'm fairly certain that none of this is edible."

--- "Patience, Lex, patience!"

She rolled her eyes and stared at her phone willing it to ring.

--- "So, your idea of a date is a trip to Costco?"

He pulled her onto the escalator with him.

--- "No, my idea of a date is to stock your fridge and cabinets with food so that the next time a storm passes, you ladies will actually have something to eat, rather than the components for penicillin."

--- "At least we'd be prepared."

He chuckled.

--- "I'm a bit disturbed by that comment, but alright."

She softened slightly.

--- "There's more than one use for penicillin, you know. I mean I know what you're thinking, and it's completely inappropriate. I'll have you know that I have never in my life had reason to use that antibiotic which has, thanks to modern day gallivanting in the streets and doing God knows what in the bed, has become a taboo medication associated with promiscuity—"

He amusingly nodded.

--- "You're absolutely correct… watch your step."

In her rambles, she nearly failed to realize that they had reached the top of the escalator.

--- "Geez, thanks."

He nudged her before retrieving the cart from the attached escalator.

--- "Are you thanking me for saving you from an humiliating fall, or are you thanking me for stocking your embarrassingly empty kitchen."

--- "I suppose I should thank you for both, but there's a reason my kitchen is empty—"

--- "What, Viola hadn't yet gotten around to go grocery shopping?"

She poked him in the side, as she knew he was making fun of her for having a nanny of sorts for her daughters… well, for Molly.

--- "Well, that; and I don't like supermarkets. They're intimidating!"

He laughed aloud at her, prompting her to smack him hard on the arm.

--- "That's not funny!"

--- "Yes it is! You just admitted that you're intimidated by a store with food in it. Do you think the minute you step in there the food will revolt and start attacking you? You might want to seek help because this seems like a serious problem."

--- "I didn't say the market was intimidating; it's the people in it! 'Oh, I made the most glorious roast; the children loved it!' They make me sick! Well, let me tell you something, I ordered the most fabulous rack of lamb from the uber popular Metro Court, and my girls are still alive! Ugh, I can't stand them! The market shoppers are like a cult, Mac; they exchange recipes with one another and turn their noses down to people like me who would dare feed their children frozen meals."

Mac stopped in an aisle he knew she might enjoy.

--- "You do realize that all of this is in your mind? Of all the times I've been grocery shopping, not once have I ever traded recipes with another shopper, nor have they come to me with secret handshakes that reveal the next meeting."

She waved her hand dismissively at him as she walked about the aisle of junk food.

--- "Please, Mac! Look at how you're dressed! I sincerely doubt anyone would think that you'd be able to cook. They all probably think you're shopping from a grocery list your wife wrote… out… for… you."

She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a large box of popcorn; she excitedly grabbed it.

--- "What in the world?! Do you see this?! There are…"

She examined the box before whispering to the man as though what she had just noticed were a secret.

--- "Forty-five packets of popcorn in here! Do you know how long this will last in my house?"

He rubbed the side of his face as he calculated a number.

--- "Um, I'll venture a guess of fifteen days."

She threw it into the cart.

--- "Why would you say that?"

--- "Considering you can't cook anything—"

--- "First, I do know how to cook something; if you must know the other day I made dinner for my girls—"

--- "And I see they lived to tell the tale."

--- "Shut up. I'm not THAT bad. I had a recipe—"

He took a bag of chips and placed them into the cart.

--- "Undoubtedly from one of the cult leaders you encountered on your many trips to the grocery store."

She smiled at him as she grabbed a second box of popcorn. She noticed Mac frowning at her.

--- "What?!"

--- "ANOTHER box? You do know that there are other things in this world to eat beside popcorn. There's this thing called a food pyramid—"

--- "I happen to like popcorn."

He looked about the shelves.

--- "No kidding. Now, what kind of cereal do you and your girls eat?"

She tapped the box showing it to him.

--- "Excuse you, Commissioner Scorpio, you must be more observant. This is Kettle Corn; the other one is Original."

--- "Oh, please excuse my ignorance—"

--- "You're excused. Um, I eat Maple Pecan Crunch, Kristina and Molly like Apple Jacks and Honey Nut Cheerios."

He grabbed the boxes and placed them into the cart.

--- "And Sam?"

She smiled at his thoughtfulness.

--- "Well, she normally doesn't stay over, but we're changing that one stolen key at a time. She usually just eats whatever is in the house."

He opened his mouth to reply, but she threateningly pointed in his direction.

--- "Don't you make fun of my empty kitchen again, Malcolm; that's why we're here! We're rectifying the _problem._"

She said the final word in jest causing him to snicker.

--- "Yes we are!"

She shook her head as she handed him a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

--- "This is her favorite; her cabinets are stocked with it."

He nodded his head.

--- "Ah, so that apple fell far from the tree in this category; I suppose she gets this much from her frog."

She sighed; there would never be a day when Mati and Mac would get along.

--- "Mac—"

He put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze as they walked toward the fruits and veggies aisle.

--- "Sorry, Lex! Now, you didn't tell me what you cooked."

She beamed at the memory of her first successful accomplishment in the kitchen… aside from Molly.

--- "Spaghetti and meatballs!"

He was impressed.

--- "My, my, that was quite a feat! I was sure you were going to tell me you made hard-boiled eggs… oh, sore subject?"

She frowned at him for a moment until she realized to what he was alluding.

--- "You ass!"

She gave him a push and wiggled out of his arms; he laughed at her annoyance.

--- "I'm sorry, I HAD to do it! You were the one who rambled on about how few eggs you had left—"

--- "Probably because you insinuated that I couldn't have kids!"

He pulled her back to him as they continued to walk.

--- "I told you I was sorry, Lex. Forgive me?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

--- "I suppose."

--- "GOOD!"

He gave her a kiss on the cheek, which she comfortably accepted; there was nothing awkward about this strange date.

--- "You know, I've tried to make them… but, I burned them."

He stopped in his tracks.

--- "You do realize that all you had to do was put the eggs in boiling water, don't you?"

She moved toward the produce.

--- "Yes, but I guess I _may_ have thought that after a while the shell would soften?"

He covered his face to hide the tears welling in his eyes from the stifled laughter.

--- "Alexis, you have to unshell the eggs."

She rolled her eyes as she began tossing apples into a plastic bag.

--- "Well I didn't realize that until the water had boiled down, and the egg nearly exploded in the pot! I noticed the white stuff—"

He stepped away from the cart to take the bag of apples from her.

--- "Don't ever call it white stuff, Lex; they're egg whites. This is all wrong—"

To her surprise, he emptied the bag back into the pile from where she took them.

--- "What are you doing? I just picked those!"

--- "You don't just grab apples nonchalantly! You have to actually examine them; make sure they aren't rotten."

She watched as he picked an apple, looked it over, smelled it and handed it to her for further inspection.

--- "Um, I don't know what you think I'm supposed to see here."

--- "You're supposed to feel a large, hard, delicious—"

--- "Am I feeling an apple or something else?"

--- "Dear God, tell me it's the apple you're discussing, otherwise I will certainly vomit right where I stand."

They both turned around in shock.

* * *

Sam turned once again to her father after hanging up with her mother.

--- "I'm really sorry about that; she's throwing a tantrum."

Mathieu was quite amused at the prospect that Alexis might not be enjoying her time with Mac; he knew the man was incapable of getting anything right.

--- "She's miserable, non?"

She frowned slightly.

--- "Are you happy that my mother may be having a horrible time on her date? Because if you are, I have to tell you that I'm not—"

He took her free hand into his own.

--- "Cherie, no! I just knew that Mac was below your mother's standards—"

--- "But you don't even know her. You don't know what her standards are. God, you don't even know Mac!"

He had a tendency to be a bit more opinionated than most people liked; he hoped he had not offended his daughter.

--- "You're right, but I can see; I'm not blind. Mac doesn't know the first thing about making your mother happy. She might not go by Alexandra anymore, but that girl is still inside her. He doesn't know the first thing about bringing it out of her and showing her a good time. Alex likes bad boys; Mac is a cop. He's too sensitive."

Sam pulled up to the hotel.

--- "See, but that's where you're wrong, Da—"

She could not call him Dad. She felt her wall building up once more against the man. She did not want it to, but he was threatening her mother's happiness. This was unacceptable. Alexis was aside from being her mother, her best friend; they had gone through too much together to not be close. Sam wanted nothing but to see her mother happy; she would be damned if anyone, even her father, might impede that from happening.

--- "All the bad boys in her life hurt her—"

--- "Not all of them."

She thought about his comment and nodded.

--- "Maybe not, but the others have. I think Mac is great for her. I know you want a shot at what could have been, but she's moved on, Mathieu. And honestly, you've got a chance to work on what could have been and she's sitting in the car with you right now, but you're too worried about beating Mac. Geez, I'm right HERE! It's one thing to have had a love lost, but you've a kid lost… now she's found."

He took her face into his hands and smiled.

--- "And I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am for this. I do not want you to think anything less than that. I have dreamt about this moment for so long; I will not let it go to waste."

She felt her eyes welling up with tears.

--- "So then leave Mom to her own devices. Dad, if it's meant to be for you to have been together it will happen. But you know what?"

He wiped the tear the rolled down her cheek. She hated that she was crying in front of the man.

--- "What?"

--- "I've never had a real father before; can't you be that? Can't you just focus on what we should have been with you as my dad and my as your daughter? I mean, I'm an adult now, and I don't need another parent to dictate my life, but I would like a dad I could, I don't know… pick locks with?"

She gave him a weak smile through her fallen tears.

--- "I would like that very much."

He gave her a kiss on either cheek feeling his heart well with pride. This was something that he was aware was extremely difficult for his daughter to do; she was not one to let her guard down so easily. Sure, she could have been giving him one of her Oscar winning performances, but he had a feeling that even if a part of her was looking to protect her mother, another part truly meant every word. That was enough for him.

--- "I tell you what, I know this might sound a little… je connais pas le mot en anglais…"

He tapped his head attempting to think of an equivalent word.

--- "Bizarre?"

Sam laughed at him. Bizarre was not a word that was typically used… at least not in her circles.

--- "Um, maybe you mean strange?"

He shrugged.

--- "Anyway, I know this might sound strange, but I would like to do with you everything that you've always wanted to do with your father, but never had the chance. I want to get to know you, cherie, and I want you to know me too."

She grinned widely.

--- "I'd like that very much."

He was overjoyed; this was more than he had ever imagined in his life. He had envisioned the day when he would see her daughter; here it was. She was giving him a chance.

--- "I have to teach you French."

She wiped the remaining tears that had fallen to her cheeks.

--- "Daddy, the extent of my French is, 'voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir?'"

He handed her a packet of tissues.

--- "Well, no daughter of mine will be saying such filth! Especially when she's clearly dating a criminal—"

--- "HEY!"

He smirked.

--- "Samantha, I have been in this town for a week, and I'm well aware of the existence of Sonny Corinthos. Jason works for him."

Of course he was aware of the mob boss that owned approximately 85% of the property in the area. One would only have to be in Port Charles an hour and they would be made aware of Sonny's existence. Nevertheless, Sam was shocked.

--- "Oh—"

Mathieu tapped her chin.

--- "Ah, so my suspicions are correct?"

She pulled away from him.

--- "Wait, you didn't know?"

He shook his head.

--- "No, but you just told me."

She laughed at the fact that he had managed to con a con… former con.

--- "That was a cruel trick."

He tapped her on the nose before unbuckling his seatbelt.

--- "And yet, something tells me that you've done this many time to others… more specifically your mother."

He gave her a kiss on either cheek before opening the door.

--- "I'm not happy about what he does for a living, Samantha, but who am I to tell you what you can or cannot do. If your mother has found a way to accept this—"

--- "She tolerates, Dad; Mom doesn't accept this in any way shape or form."

He shrugged his shoulders and blew a slight raspberry typical of the French gesture of indecision.

--- "Well, I will follow her lead. However, if either he or his 'profession' hurt you, Samantha—"

--- "You will kill him."

He smiled and nodded.

--- "Je t'aime, ma belle. A demain."

She smiled back at the man as she watched him walk into the hotel.

* * *

Alexis wrapped her hands around her daughter's neck in playful jest.

--- "Ugh, what are you doing here?"

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother as she smirked. After leaving Mathieu, she decided to pay her mother a visit on her wonderful trip to… Costco. It was obvious that this store would soon make it on her mother's list of her most favorite places.

--- "I'm having daddy issues, Mommy; I think I may need to go to Shady Brook. And considering the conversation I just walked in on, I think electric shock therapy may be in order."

Alexis noticed that her daughter's eyes were slightly red; she knew she had been crying. She turned to Mac, but he already knew what she needed.

--- "Go, I'll finish bagging these apples for you—"

Sam interjected.

--- "I'm super happy you're being safe, Mac! You must ALWAYS bag—"

Alexis grabbed her daughter before she could complete her statement. It was quite evident that whatever had been bother her, it was not serious enough to stop the filth from oozing out of her mouth.

--- "Okay, excuse us Mac."

--- "Make sure you grab the hard ones, that's how she likes them. Any softness ruins them—"

She covered her daughter's mouth as she blushed.

--- "You need to stop. Mac, um, go deal with another fruit—"

--- "Oooh, yea…"

Even through her muffled mouth, Sam managed to make yet another inappropriate comment; Alexis quickly dragged her to the side.

--- "Dear God, Samantha! You're worse than a teenager!"

--- "Um, you're the one who kept calling me—"

Alexis folded her arms across her chest.

--- "I called you twice!"

Sam unconsciously made the same gesture.

--- "While you were on a date—"

--- "Technically, neither were made while I was on the date; I made the first BEFORE I left the house—"

--- "And the second?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. She placed both hands onto her daughter's shoulders.

--- "Fine, I made that one when I in his car. I'll give that to you; that was after the date began. Now, can you please tell me what happened to you?"

Sam noticed Mac gesturing to her.

--- "Um, you know what, Mom? Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

She frowned at her daughter.

--- "What are you hiding?"

Knowing her mother could read her more than she liked, she looked back over to Mac who was now talking to a familiar red head.

--- "Oooh, Diane!"

Alexis groaned in agitation; her daughter was hiding vital information from her, and now her best friend would undoubtedly make fun of her for the location of her date.

--- "This conversation is NOT over Samantha."

She took her mother by the hand and led her to where Mac and Diane were standing.

--- "I know that, Mom! I distinctly remember saying that I wanted to talk to you about this tomorrow, but you keep pushing me. Now… Hi Diane!"

The fiery woman turned around and smiled widely at Sam and Alexis.

--- "Hello there! I was just having a chat with the wonderfully dressed Mac, and he was explaining to me how he was teaching you, Lex, the finer points on _grocery shopping_. How gentlemanly of him."

She looked her friend up and down.

--- "Don't you look nice? I take it this was a surprise? Were you not expecting to spend your evening stroking zucchinis and bananas finding the best one suitable for your needs? Mac, I tell you, a little tidbit about my best friend here, she doesn't like ripe bananas, if you catch my drift. That soft stuff is for the old and feeble."

He immediately reddened.

--- "Um, I'll keep that in mind."

She poked him in the arm.

--- "You do that!"

Alexis covered her face wondering what she did to become friends with the woman.

--- "What are you even doing here, Diane? I didn't think Costco was a place you shopped."

Sam nodded in agreement.

--- "Seriously! Are you getting your week's case of wine?"

The woman whipped her neck around to look at the young woman.

--- "Have you LOST your mind? In no way, shape, or form, would I EVER purchase my wine from THIS store! I'll have you know that I have a wonderful relationship with the winery downtown—"

The young woman rolled her eyes as she looked through Diane's cart.

--- "Of course you do… Ah, jelly… and… [ahem] lifesavers."

Sam's ears burned as she recalled the last time she and _lifesavers_ were in the same room as her mother. Alexis looked in the cart; Diane was not one for sweets.

--- "Jelly as in KY, and lifesavers as in _LIFESAVERS._"

Diane grabbed the boxes from the woman's hands.

--- "Excuse you, but I like to be prepared—"

Alexis smiled.

--- "Clearly; you've a lifetime supply in there! Are you buying the store out? Your cart is filled with only this stuff—"

Sam tapped her mother.

--- "Um, that's not true."

She moved the boxes of condoms aside to reveal cans of whip cream and chocolate syrup. Alexis was astounded.

--- "Geez, the other day you were talking about Max barely scraping minimum—"

The redhead pointed a finger at her best friend.

--- "My Max has NO problem scraping minimum; I'm surprised he's able to find pants that fit."

Sam made a gagging sound.

--- "That was more information than I needed to know, thank you."

Mac looked at his watch and pulled Sam over to him. Alexis watched as they quietly moved away and spoke to each other; it was obvious her daughter was in on this joke of a date.

--- "Di—"

The woman was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to be concerned with what Alexis' gnome and shield were up to.

--- "You know, Lex, it's as though someone removed the safety from Max's gun and now he's shooting up like a soldier in war! It's like Kamikaze soldiers explod—"

Alexis grabbed an apple and put it to the woman's mouth; she could not take one more word of her descriptive analysis of her sexual experience with Mac.

--- "T.M.I. Di, T.M.I. Now, look over there; those two are plotting."

Diane followed her friend's finger.

--- "Oh and they're standing next to the strawberries… SAM! Grab me a few cases of those… oh and get some for your mother as well!"

Diane handed Alexis a can of whip cream and chocolate, but the neurotic attorney quickly put them back into the cart.

--- "Will you STOP!"

Diane rolled her eyes.

--- "And THIS is why you're in COSTCO for your date! SAM, forget the strawberries for your mother! Just grab a few extra for me."

Sam shook her head at the woman, but returned to her conversation with Mac. Alexis was fed up with the secrecy. While she had been enjoying her time with the man, this was not exactly how she pictured a date with him. Then again, if her daughter was plotting, it could not get much worse; Sam seemed to, whether Alexis asked for it or not, always have her mother's best interest at heart.

Nevertheless, she decided to walk over and find out what was being secretly discussed.

--- "So, what's going on here?"

Mac smiled at her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

--- "Sam was just warning me that if I didn't show you a good time tonight, she would have to mash my potatoes."

Sam looked at him in avid disgust.

--- "Mom, I didn't exactly say that, but what I said wasn't too far from what he said. Now, I'm going to get out of your hair so you and Mac can continue this lovely little date."

She gave her mother a kiss on cheek before grabbing Diane's strawberries.

--- "I love you. Have fun!"

Although Alexis did not believe a word that came out of either Sam or Mac's mouths, she decided not to press the issue; it was not as though they could stay inside _Costco_ all night.

--- "I love you too, Honey."

She watched as Sam grabbed Diane by the arm and pushed her and her shopping cart along. She turned back to Mac.

--- "Now, what in the world was all of that about?"

He shrugged innocently as he picked out several other items in the section.

--- "I believe you heard your daughter actually admit to guilt; that NEVER happens. I'd think you'd be happy to accept what she said as true."

She shook her head.

--- "Malcolm Scorpio, I'll allow that comment to slide as it seems obvious that you and she are cohorts in this."

He put the fruits into the cart, wrapped his arm around her, gave her a kiss on the cheek and led her to the meat section.

--- "Whatever you say. Now, what's your meat of pleasure?"

Alexis looked at him for a moment.

--- "Any type I can beat with a mallet."

* * *

After spending more than two hours shopping in the store, another hour on the line at checkout, followed by thirty minutes getting all of the items loaded into the car, they were finally ready to leave.

Mac held the door opened for a clearly annoyed Alexis. Aside from the annoying kitchen savvy shoppers, she was not a fan of long lines and loading her car. There was a reason she kept Viola around, and it was not to shuffle her youngest daughter around town; it was because she was not about to do something she hated every week. She would rather pay a person an exorbitant amount of money, than deal with the hassle.

--- "I'm really sorry about the delay, Lex. I told you that we needed to get into the store quickly. I guess I didn't expect to run into Sam and Diane."

She mumbled under her breath more expletives she had not thought to say when they had arrived earlier. Mac took a deep breath to calm his tickling throat.

--- "Come on Lex, this could NOT have been that bad. I thought you would enjoy this. I mean, now you've a kitchen full of food!"

She glared at him as he entered the car.

--- "I've a kitchen filled with food that I CANNOT cook, Mac! AND I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle or something in my back because it hurts from all that heavy lifting. Just take me home, please."

She wondered if she had made a huge mistake by trying something out with a man whom she had always considered to be a professional friend. After the time she had spent with him, while she found him to be wonderful company, there was no question why he was single; he simply had no sense of what a woman likes.

Mac was saddened that she was so upset; he thought he had made a good decision. He never liked to conform much to societies standards; a date to Costco and a kind gesture of filling her cabinets seemed as far left as he could have possibly thought for a woman who grew up in luxury.

--- "Alright, but I do need to make a quick stop at my house."

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders as she looked out the window.

--- "Fine whatever."

--- "It's getting too dark for me to drive without my glasses on; I didn't expect for us to be out this long."

She did not even bother responding to him. She wanted nothing more than to go home and read a book to forget about another love boat that passed her by.

He nodded. They drove in silence. He wanted to bring up some random topic, but he figured it would do nothing but upset her more; he did not want to do that. He sighed and pulled into his driveway.

--- "Um, I'm not too comfortable leaving a little sitting in the car, so as mad as you are at me, could you come inside?"

Without a word, she unbuckled her seatbelt and followed him to the house. He put the key into the lock, but stopped.

--- "I'm going to apologize for the mess; I didn't expect any company."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Why am I not surprised?"

He sighed and opened the door, stepping aside to allow her first entrance.

--- "Ladies first."

She shook her head.

--- "You said your house is a mess, Mac; I'm not stepping inside and tripping on one of your dirty sucks to sprain my ankle again. I suggest you go inside and make sure that everything is in the clear first."

He smirked.

--- "Whatever you like, Lex."

He stepped in and looked around before returning to the door.

--- "Alright, everything is in the clear. No torts liability here, not that I have the money to pay for any damages done to your pretty little ankle."

She pursed her lips to his compliment before walking into the living room to see a beautifully decorated dining table set for two.

--- "Oh, Mac!"

He smiled as he locked the door behind her.

--- "And for dinner tonight, we will be serving crow."

She smacked him in the chest before removing her coat and hanging it on the coat rack.

--- "Is this what you've been up to all along? That whole Costco trip was a decoy?"

--- "Yes and no. God knows your house was in dire need of some kind of food, and I just wanted to spend some stress-free time with you—"

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea, grocery shopping is NOT stress-free."

--- "Duly noted. We've been friends for years, and there's nothing more weird than moving from that category into the dating one; I figured doing something like that would kill the awkwardness."

--- "It killed something alright."

Just then Robin and Patrick came out of the kitchen with two dinner plates and a bottle of wine.

--- "It's about time you two got here! I was afraid that the duck would get dry in the oven!"

Alexis smiled from Mac to Robin.

--- "You made duck?"

The young woman shook her head.

--- "Actually, Uncle Mac prepared it, and texted us while you were out shopping to put it in the oven. He made everything, we just heated it up for him."

Alexis was quite impressed with the preparation he put into wining and dining her.

--- "I don't even know what to say, Mac—"

Patrick interrupted.

--- "If I may, Alexis, you can tell him to get changed into something more fitting and appropriate for the presence of his lovely dinner date."

Robin wrapped her arms around her husband.

--- "Aw, this is why I love you so much! Yea, Uncle Mac, hurry up and change."

Mac nodded and gave Alexis a kiss on the cheek.

--- "I believe they're right! If you'll excuse me Alexis while I change into something more… comfortable? Robin, Patrick, you may now leave. I thank you for your services."

The couple laughed as they placed the final items onto the table.

--- "No problem; we have plans of our own. Enjoy guys!"

Alexis could not help but feel like an idiot for the way she had reacted to Mac's choice of distraction. Nevertheless, she was grateful to have him in her life. She pulled her cell out to make one final call.

Sam picked up on the first ring.

--- "So, I take it you've arrived at your final destination Mother? How does your foot taste?"

She stared at the table in amazement of Mac's cooking and table setting skills.

--- "It tastes disgusting."

--- "Well, that's probably because you don't get them done enough."

--- "You shut up. Why are you whispering?"

It was true; her daughter was speaking uncharacteristically lower than her already naturally low speaking voice.

--- "Who, I was babysitting with Jason—"

She felt her blood pressure rise at the sound of the man's name in any closer proximity to her daughters than had been the day prior.

--- "Samantha—"

--- "He was on the couch, I was on top of him. We'll find out in a month or two about the baby."

Alexis blushed.

--- "SAMANTHA!"

She continued knowing her mother was turning as red as a tomato.

--- "My throat is a bit sore from all that screaming."

Mac came down the steps dressed in a pair of slacks and a nice polo top. He shook his head in amusement to find Alexis once again on the phone.

--- "I take it Sam is on the line?"

She nodded.

--- "How'd you know?"

He took the phone from the woman.

--- "Only she can make you turn this shade of red… Hello, Sam."

Sam smiled knowing that everything had gone according to plan.

--- "Hi Mac. I'm happy that my mother was surprised."

--- "As am I! I was sure she was going to snap my neck—"

She chuckled as she pulled stepped out of her car and manually locked the door. Mac groaned at the woman's dirty mind.

--- "You know what I mean! Anyway, everything is fine! I'm confiscating your mother's phone, so you shouldn't receive anymore phone calls."

She stepped into the car.

--- "Thank God for that."

--- "Enjoy your evening, Sam."

She started the car and reversed out of the driveway.

--- "You too, Mac, but remember what I told you—"

He smiled at Alexis who continued to stare at the table in amazement.

--- "Yes, yes, sure. I'll have my own scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Gotcha."

She honked the horn as she passed the house.

--- "As long as we've an understanding."


	31. Double D's

Well goodness, it's been eight months… is anyone still interested in this? What can I say? Thanksgiving inspired me. Shrug.

UNEDITED.

**Part THREE of THREE**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

**Double D's**

Alexis walked around the room in complete awe of what Mac had done specifically for her. As she stared at the beautifully set table with the clearly delicious meal awaiting her, a series of emotions passed through her: she was flattered by the preparation he took to ensure that everything he had planned went off without a hitch; touched by the group participation in keeping her distracted; and highly embarrassed by the way she reacted when things failed to pan out the way she thought they should. She looked at the man who stood at the table holding an empty chair out for her to sit. Could he be the sort of man that she had been awaiting all of her life? Was he _the _one? Or was she once again jumping the gun imagining herself walking down the aisle before she actually and _successfully_ jumped his gun.

- "Mac—"

He smiled and approached her holding his hand out to her.

- "You don't have to say it, Lex; your face says it all."

She took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the dinner table and into her seat.

- "And what exactly does my face say?"

He took her napkin from the table and laid it onto her lap before taking his seat beside her.

- "It says: 'boy, did I underestimate Commissioner Scorpio. I really should have found out what was being served for dinner before I decided on the crow.' "

Grabbing the red wine, he began to pour it into her glass.

- "Am I close?"

She wanted to say no, but it was true. After all that had transpired over the past few days, she could not believe that he had managed to pull something so wonderful off for her. It made her smile.

- "Maybe."

He leaned forward as though he would kiss her, but instead, with a smile of his own, he pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. It took everything in him to not kiss her, but he would not.

- "Sure, maybe. I think I'm pretty close. How do you like the wine?"

She rolled her eyes as she took a sip from her drink.

- "Hmm… it's really good. It's my—"

He winked as he finished her statement.

- "It's your favorite."

Placing her wine glass onto the table, she frowned as she watched him prepare her plate. Watching as he carefully chose her side dishes, knowing exactly what she would like, she wondered when he had gained so much knowledge about her. When did they grow from friends to… something _more_?

- "How in the world did you know my favorite wine?"

Mac chuckled to himself as he moved onto the duck.

- "Give me a little credit, Lex! I pay attention."

She shook her head.

- "Says the man who couldn't bother to order me flowers or write the card himself? I don't think so. How'd you know my favorite wine, Mac?"

He put a piece of the duck onto her plate.

- "Let's just say a little birdie told me."

- "Um, would this little birdie be a fiery redhead or a five feet two inch gnome I happen to call my daughter?"

He was busted.

- "The former."

Happy in her victory, Alexis did a little dance in her seat as Mac placed her plate in front of her.

- "I knew it! I knew it!"

And while he tried to hold in his laughter by feigning upset at her callous gloating, he could not. He found her silliness… _adorable_.

- "Yea well, I'll have you know that _I_ asked for the name of the wine so that I could pick it up myself. You know, I didn't want you to yell at me again—"

Taking another sip of the wine, she passed her hand caressingly along his arm.

- "I would've only yelled if you had her write you a card to go with the bottle."

The gesture made him blush slightly. He did not know what it was, but he felt like a young schoolboy when with her.

- "I guess I should hide the card then."

Noticing a comment about to spring to her lips, he shook his head. He had already learned his lesson.

- "I'm joking, Lex. She dropped it off here sometime before or after her impromptu visit to the fruits and vegetable aisle."

Alexis took another sip. She thought about the bottles of wine she and Diane… well Diane, alone… had gone through the night Mathieu had unexpectedly returned. Between that night and the day of the snowstorm, it really was a miracle there were any more bottles of the wine to be found in the Port Charles area, let alone at their dinner table.

- "Well, if there's one thing Diane knows, it's her booze. God love her."

Mac made a face. When he thought about his encounters with the redheaded woman, he was certain that ninety-five percent of them were when she was either intoxicated, or coming down from a stupor. He was not certain he had ever seen her entirely sober.

- "You really should consider getting that woman some help—"

Alexis, on the other hand, nonchalantly waved her hand. Diane was who she was. She had, for the years in which they had been best friends, always been a wine-guzzling… _wino_, an excellent attorney, and a great friend. There was nothing to help.

- "Mac please! Diane's blood is made of wine. She'll probably outlive us all considering the health benefits of the stuff. You know it _is_ filled with antioxidants—"

The man scoffed at her.

- "Is that what she told you?"

It was.

- "Yeeeah—"

Mac shook his head.

- "Yes Alexis, it is exceptionally intelligent to listen to the alcoholic who tells you that her booze is healthy. That's like listening to a drug addict who says that cocaine is really _Splenda—"_

She rolled her eyes at the man.

- "It might as well be! Have you ever had the stuff?"

- "Coke?"

She smacked his arm.

- "NO! Splenda! It's damn good. Once you've used it in your tea or coffee, you'll never go back to sugar again. It's… _delightful_."

Nodding in agreement, he pointed to her plate. He wanted her to taste the meal he had prepared for them.

- "Eat up. I know what you mean about things being damn good and addicting—"

He began to cut his meat.

- "There are certain things you have… or see, and you know you can't go without having… a taste of it."

With a smile on his face, he put a piece of the breast into his mouth.

- "Bon appétit."

* * *

Under normal circumstances, Sam would avoid Carly's house like the plague; she did not like the woman and the woman was none too fond of her either. Unfortunately, her sisters, for whatever reason, thought differently. Taking a deep breath as she stepped out of the car, Sam braced herself for the litany of ridiculous comments the woman might say in the thirty seconds it would take to retrieve her sisters. She could not say she was in the mood to deal with them.

- "Alright, here goes nothing."

She rang the doorbell.

- "Come on… it's not like it's summer here."

After a few minutes and several rings of the doorbell, Carly opened the door.

- "Oh, hi Sam."

It was not that she had not heard the doorbell or did not realize that Sam was out there, it was because she refused to jump the moment the girl beckoned… albeit via the doorbell… in the middle of a chilly upstate New York fall evening.

- "Come in."

She stood aside to let her inside.

- "Hi Carly. Where are the girls?"

Molly, followed by Kristina, entered the foyer where Sam and Carly stood.

- "We're here! Where's Jason?"

Carly groaned. Ever since Jason and Sam had begun dating once again, she was no longer at his beck and call; she hated it and made no attempt to hide her feelings of annoyance with the younger woman.

- "Yea, where's Jason."

Sensing the sarcastic tone of the woman's question, Sam simply rolled her eyes.

- "Um, Jason and I were together last night—"

Molly giggled in excitement.

- "Ooooh!"

Kristina smacked the girl's arm.

- "Will you quit it? She's all excited, as usual, about the fact that not only are you and Jason going strong, but now Mom and Mac are together. She's certain there'll be summer weddings—"

- "Maybe _joint_ weddings, Kristina!"

Carly, who had remained at the door holding it open, was in shock at what she had just heard. Everyone around town knew that Alexis Davis, the towns most dating-challenged individual, was into murderers and psychopaths. Mac Scorpio was too… _safe_ for her.

- "Your mother and Mac are dating?"

Molly elatedly nodded, but Kristina shook her head.

- "Nooo, Carly; they're on _A_ date right now. But, we don't know if they're dating YET—"

Molly continued.

- "Yea, especially since Sam's father—"

Sam, however, did not care to provide the woman with any information concerning her mother's love-life; if there was anyone Carly hated more than her (at least in their family), it was Alexis. She grabbed Molly by the arm to lead her out before the girl divulged anymore of their family's business.

- "Um, alright. Thank you Carly for having my sisters by, we'll be leaving now."

The older woman was however intrigued.

- "Wait a second! Your father is in town and Jason hasn't told me anything? What's going on?"

Sam shrugged nonchalantly.

- "I guess that's something you're going to have to take it up with him. Now, I'll be seeing you, _Car!_ Come on girls."

Kristina smirked at the look of annoyance on her former stepmother's face. While she loved the woman, she would always side first with her sister.

- "Thanks again."

- "No problem, sweetie."

Giving her a quick hug, Kristina then followed her sisters to the driveway.

- "Sam, where's the car?"

Without concerning herself with her sister's question, Sam unlocked the door and hopped into the vehicle.

- "Let's go, Krissy!"

The teen, like their younger sister, frowned but nevertheless did as she was told.

- "Um, whose car is this? It's not one of ours."

Waiting for the girls to fasten their seatbelts before putting the car in drive, Sam smiled.

- "Aren't you observant, honey?"

Molly, having been jilted out of the front seat, looked suspiciously around the car.

- "Okay, so not only do you have some random car, but it's filled with groceries. Sam, I know the house's fridge is empty, but I don't think Mom would condone you stealing someone's car filled with groceries."

The woman rolled her eyes as she drove away from the house.

- "Molly, if you must know this is Mac's car—"

- "Why do you have Mac's car?"

- "I stole it."

Molly's eyes widened.

- "SAM—"

As intelligent as her sister was, it never ceased to astound the woman how gullible she could be.

- "Molly! _Seriously? _Come on. He took Mom on a date to Costco—"

Kristina, who sat in the front seat, looked at her sister in disbelief. Mac was not the most romantic type of guy they had ever met given his lack of dating, but Costco was in no way anywhere she would have imagined him taking her mother for a first date.

- "Stop lying."

She waited for Sam to tell her that she was joking.

- "Sam?"

When the woman continued to drive without another word, Kristina turned to look at Molly, whose mouth hung opened in disbelief, before turning her attention back to their older sister.

- "You're serious?"

Without taking her eyes from the rode, Sam nodded.

- "I'm completely serious—"

Molly was appalled; this was not how the fair lady was supposed to be swept off of her feet by her suitor.

- "That is horrible, Sam! What kind of man takes our mother to the supermarket for a date?"

- "The type that wants to squeeze her melons."

While Kristina scoffed in full understanding and disgust of her sister's comment, Molly shook her head in disagreement.

- "That's just stupid! He could have done that anywhere! And goodness, why would he want to do that in the first place? They're not even in season. Ugh… I can't believe him. Is Mom disappointed?"

- "She was at first—"

Kristina looked out the window attempting to make sense of the entire situation. Why would any man in his right mind think that such a date was suitable for a woman such as their mother? There was clearly something Sam was leaving out of the story.

- "At first? So you saw her?"

Molly covered her face in annoyance.

- "Sam, will you just tell us what happened and more specifically what you're up to? Where's Mommy _now_? And why do you have Mac's car?"

Sam smiled as she looked at her sister through the rearview mirror.

- "Molly-girl, I'm not up to anything!"

Kristina smacked her hands onto her knees realizing her older sister was indeed lying to them.

- "For a former con, you're a HORRIBLE liar Sam! You never call Molly, '_Molly-girl' _unless you're trying to convince her of something ridiculous. This would be no exception. Now spill it! What are Mom and Mac doing on their date?"

Smirking as she pulled into their driveway, Sam reached over to run her hand through her sister's hair.

- "Now Krissy, that's a bit personal, don't you think?"

The teen pulled away with a hiss.

- "Stop that! You know what I mean! Come on, spill!"

She quickly exited the car with a smile on her face; she loved making her sisters work for a bit of juicy gossip.

- "Let's just say that Mac is great at making Mom pissed and then later having her eat humble pie… and perhaps other things."

Kristina made a face.

- "You're disgusting, you know that?"

- "Depends on who you ask! Now, help me get these things inside, please."

* * *

She let out a breath as she placed her silverware onto the plate.

- "That was… _amazing_, Mac. I don't think I've ever had a better meal in my life. Thank you."

He smiled at the look of satisfaction on her face.

- "You don't have to flatter me, Lex—"

Shaking her head, she reached for his hand.

- "I'm serious, Mac. This was delicious. Like really, really good. Where in the world did you learn to cook like that?"

He gave her a hand a kiss before standing to clear the table. It had been years since he made a dinner like that for someone other than his kids for the holidays. It felt good to be appreciated by an equal. He hoped to do it more often.

- "Years and years of practice. I mean, you should have seen the meals I used to prepare for the girls when they were younger. Poor Robin got the brunt of my horrible attempts at dinner."

Able to relate, she rolled her eyes as she stood to help him.

- "Believe me, I get it… and I _still_ can't cook! I'm convinced that I'm culinarily-challenged. It is absolutely impossible for me to create anything close to this. So… I envy you, Mac."

He stood against the kitchen door as he held it open for her.

- "Do you have any space for dessert?"

Placing the dirty dishes into the sink, Alexis frowned at the man.

- "Um, yeeea. Have you met me, Commissioner?"

He knew she loved all things unhealthy and especially sweet, but the question, given her look of…

- "Yea, but I mean, you look a little… _bloated._"

Seeing the transformation on her face from smiles to that of… well, he had seen it several times in the past few days after he had stuck his foot in his mouth. Clearly, this was no exception.

- "Wait—"

She glared at him.

- "You know, I seriously am going to end up with a complex because of you, Mac! What the hell? Bloated? I'm forty-six! THREE children have grown and come out of me—"

She attempted to push him out of her way so that she could leave, but yet again she realized that she did not have a car to escape. This was becoming a very bad pattern.

- "Ugh! Where's my cell—"

Aside from wanting to kick himself in the face for yet another faux pas, he had other thoughts of self-inflicted torture he would have liked to exercise in that exact moment. He did not recall ever suffering from such oral diarrhea when it came to Felicia or… _Felicia._ There was something about Alexis that just made him nervous. And when he was nervous, he said stupid things.

- "Lex, please—"

He grabbed her by the arm.

- "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it the way it came out! I'm just… ugh… I'm stupid."

She rolled her eyes.

- "—and moronic."

He nodded in agreement.

- "And just a big—"

- "Dumdum."

Seeing the look on her face at the _insult_, he laughed; he could tell, just by looking at her, that all was forgiven.

- "I'm really sorry. I look at you and… and… my mind just goes blank. I just say whatever comes to mind—"

Making a face, she moved from his grasp and back into the kitchen where she could work off the bloat from the meal; she began to load the dishwasher.

- "And that would be by insulting me every chance you get?"

Her words kicked him exactly where he would have liked to kick himself except apart from the inability position himself appropriately… and the pain of the act… he could not.

- "No! I just get—"

Once again she finished his statement.

- "Stupid."

He nodded.

- "Yea, that. Um… what if I said your beauty makes me, dumb?"

She turned to glare at him, but the apologetic look on his face as his eyes sparkled in his plea for forgiveness melted the thin wall of ice that had formed. She could never stay upset with him.

- "I'd say I believed you. Now, where's dessert? I mean, this fat girl with a scarred up and unattractive body incapable of bearing anymore children needs to be fed."

He wanted to apologize for the umpteenth time, but he figured he would just let the moment pass.

- "Well, let's see."

She noticed his uncertainty.

- "You don't know?"

He shook his head as he approached the refrigerator. He might have been able to make a decent dinner, but he was not a baker. He left that department to Sara Lee and Betty Crocker.

- "Nope, I didn't make it."

He opened the fridge for the first time in hours.

- "I was told it would be taken care of."

As he finished his statement he was not shocked to find the chosen dessert.

- "And next up on the menu is a cherry pie."

Closing the dishwasher, Alexis shook her head knowing something smelled rotten.

- "Of course it is."

She noticed that he oddly stared at it.

- "What's wrong with it?

He could not find the words.

- "Well… um…"

She walked around the counter to stand beside him. As soon as she approached, she saw the reason for the strange look on his face.

- "How amusing, there's a cherry in the center of the hole. Was this your idea?"

He robotically shook his head.

- "NO! That would be—"

As soon as the question left her lips, she already knew the answer.

- "Sam."

- "You got it."

She let out a breath of exasperation. Her daughter had a sick sense of humor.

- "I swear, I'm going to murder that girl… figuratively. This is her idea of a joke?"

Feeling as though at any moment he would make another stupid comment, with his hands in his pocket, Mac stepped away from the dessert.

- "So it seems."

But she pulled him back to her. She felt dirty standing next to it alone.

- "Where in the world do you think you're going? We need to figure out what we're going to do with… this."

It was obvious, but the words were nevertheless uncomfortable to utter. He supposed that was the point.

- "Um… should I… _eat_… it? Or you?"

She felt her face burn.

- "You should eat it…"

She reddened further as she was certain she had sent out an unwanted… well, too forward… signal.

- "I mean, the _pie_. You should eat the pie. Um… I'll help you."

Seeing the look of embarrassment on her face, Mac pushed it away from them as though it were ready to attack at any moment. The second he saw Sam again, he would certainly arrest her for something. This joke, as far as he was concerned, was… criminal.

- "How about we leave it right where it is?"

But despite any embarrassment that she might have had, Alexis shook her head. She loved cake and she loved pie. Unfortunately, her daughter was privy to that information.

- "No, that's not an option. We're not letting a perfectly good pie go to waste! We're going to eat it… and _enjoy _it."

Resigning himself, he let out sigh. He could see the determination in her eyes; there was no turning back from there. A pie would not defeat them.

- "I suppose you're right."

Although her face still felt rather bright, she pulled the dessert closer to them.

- "Why don't you cut a slice and I'll get the plates… wherever you keep them."

He cringed.

- "Top right cabinet. And um… I'm almost afraid to admit this, but I actually…"

She moved to the cabinet, but turned when he did not finish his thought.

- "You actually what?"

He put up a finger as he turned toward the refrigerator. Holding up the cane, he shamefully covered his face with his other hand.

- "I eat _it_ with… whipped cream."

Putting the plates down onto the counter, she moved closer to him.

- "Me too."


	32. Leftovers and Bushes… Among Other Things

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

**Leftovers and Bushes… Among Other Things**

- "Moooom?"

She opened her eyes to find her eldest daughter staring questioningly at her. Sam was snooping for information she was unable to get the night before when Alexis had snuck in through the back door.

- "Go away, you perverted little dwarf."

With a smile on her face, Sam shook her head as she brought her hand from behind her back to reveal a large cup of coffee.

- "Come on, you can't still be mad at me. See, I've brought you a peace offering. Please, Mommy."

Alexis rolled her eyes at the twenty-nine year old woman. Never in their lives together had she called her anything but 'Alexis' or 'Mom;' clearly she was attempting to get back into her good graces. She would not allow all to be forgiven so easily.

- "Mommy nothing. I know why you're in here, and you can turn around and go back to your room or wherever you came from… what time is it anyway?"

- "Ten-thirty."

She pulled the sheets off and headed toward the bathroom.

- "I slept in… I'm shocked you didn't come jumping on my bed like a rabid monkey trying to find out if your jokes panned out the way that you had wanted."

Still holding the cup of coffee, Sam followed her mother.

- "I told you I was sorry!"

- "I forgive you; but that doesn't mean I'm giving you the satisfaction of knowing how your twisted games worked out on my date last night."

She placed the cup on the counter before hopping and taking a seat onto it as she waited for Alexis to come out of the toilet room. She sampled the perfume that sat on the counter.

- "You know I'm not leaving until you tell me."

She sang loud enough for her mother to hear her through the closed door. She was determined to find out how her payback against her mother for her humiliating spanking and time-out had gone.

- "I mean, I don't have to be anywhere today… I'm free like a bird… to bug you until you provide me with the info I want—"

Alexis glared at her daughter as she made her way to the sink to wash her hands. She knew she could not get rid of the young woman so easily.

- "You're in your pajamas."

Sam nodded.

- "That's because I slept over last night. You would've known that had you not snuck in… at what time exactly did you get home?"

While she was tempted to first have her morning coffee, she refused to give her daughter the satisfaction in knowing that she had taken her peace offering. She was still pissed. Instead she put her toothpaste onto her toothbrush and deflected Sam's question.

- "And how'd you get into my room anyway? I locked—"

She did not bother continuing her statement; she already knew.

- "I'm so proud to know that I not only have Freud's model student as a daughter, but she's also quite the miscreant picking locks while holding a hot cup of coffee."

- "Come on, Mom! It wasn't that bad!"

From the corner of her eye she noticed the petite woman smirking as she bit her cuticle. She was quite amused with the mischief she had caused.

- "You're taking too much pleasure in this, you know that? That was… traumatizing… to say the VERY least. It's a good thing I don't have anymore kids of fairytale and Disney-like age. Between you and Diane, I'd be left with nothing to comfortably read to them."

- "Oh please, you can even ask Molly, those fairytales were supposed to be gruesome—"

Alexis pointed her toothbrush at her.

- "Yea, but not filled with… porn, Samantha—"

Sam, however, countered.

- "Have you watched any of those Disney movies? Look at the cover of the Little Mermaid, Mom; there's a huge schlong in Triton's kingdom, and I'm not talking about his—"

She interrupted her.

- "WHERE do you come up with these things? Seriously?"

Sam looked at her mother. Behind the smile that brightened her face, there was a glimmer of sadness. Alexis could see it.

- "I remember a time where my mother had cancer—"

She gave Sam's knee a squeeze.

- "Oh, honey; please don't blame me for your twisted mind."

Sam laughed aloud as she playfully kicked her mother's thigh.

- "Stop it! I spent quite a bit of time here between making sure you didn't fall asleep in the tub or pass out in the shower, and watching Disney movies. Krissy had me watching those damn things so much I memorized them line for line. That got pretty boring; I needed something else to occupy my time."

- "And looking for sexual subliminal messages in children's movies was your solution?"

She nodded.

- "I'm not even ashamed to say, yes. I mean, you don't have to believe me, but it's all over the Internet. What else would you expect from a man who's frozen himself… heh."

Not having anything to say in response, Alexis began to brush her teeth; at least she would be spared from having to answer any questions concerning her evening with Mac. Sam, however, was onto her game.

- "You're not going to be able spend the rest of the day brushing your teeth, Mom; you're going to have to speak to me at some point. I worked too hard on that date of yours, with Mac's agreement, I might add—"

She spit.

- "And again, he asked you to choose a movie that I would like—"

- "I DID! I gave him THREE great options… I figured they'd be great topics of discussion."

- "Oh, like eating pie?"

Sam snickered.

- "I mean that… or other things."

She narrowed her eyes at the daughter before continuing to brush her teeth. She needed to remind herself once she was done to call Lainey for referrals to psychiatrists who specialized in perverts; her daughter fit the bill.

_

* * *

She cut herself another slice of the pie, but managed to capture the most unwanted portion of it; the mere sight of which caused her to blush._

_- "You know, this really isn't that bad… although, I refuse to go anywhere near the cherry."_

_Without a word, he stuck his finger in and plucked it right out and put it in his mouth. He smiled at the look of shock on her face._

_- "I saved you the trouble."_

_- "Under normal circumstances, I would tell you that that was incredibly disgusting and perhaps disturbing, but given that we're eating a cherry pie provided for by someone who may need shock therapy for the issues she clearly has, I suppose I can get over your lack of manners in that respect."_

_He smiled at her before leaning in to give her a gentle kiss on her lips. He had been wanting to do that since he had picked her up for their date, when he noticed the look of sheer terror on her face when he drove into the Costco lot, and when he finally was able to bring her to their actual date. He had been wanting to kiss her the entire night, but stopped himself. However, with a piece of her cherry in his mouth, he could not contain himself._

_- "You know, I could've used my mouth. I think that what I did was pretty appropriate—"_

_Feeling like a scared little schoolgirl, she nervously smiled back at him. Her dimples were well prevalent which caused him to caress her cheek; she was beautiful._

_- "You could've used a fork."_

_- "But that would've taken the fun out of seeing you… like this."_

_She put more whipped cream onto her pie before taking another bite._

_- "Flushed? Almost as red as these poorly typecasted cherries? You have an odd sense of humor, Commissioner."_

_He shrugged._

_- "It was odd enough to get you to agree to go out with me, wasn't it?"_

_She was sure she had made the right decision in choosing him._

_- "I don't know. You've seen the men I've dated in the past. I don't know how much you want to trust my judgment."_

_Winking at her, he was sure she had chosen the right man._

_- "Well, we've all got one thing in common."_

_- "And what's that?"_

_He stood from his seat._

_- "We carry big guns."_

_And with that, he began to clear the table of her empty dish. There was not a cherry in sight._

* * *

Having seen his car sitting in the driveway, Maxie and Robin let themselves into the house knowing that he had not yet gone out. They hung their coats before walking into the room to find it as spotless as it always was. Maxie felt somewhat disappointed.

- "From what Sam told us last night, you'd think those two would've torn this living room apart? You know? If Spinelli and I had wine, cherry pie, whipped cream, and visual entertainment we would've—"

Robin stopped her before she shared far more information that she needed to hear.

- "Um, how about we stay on target? Let's find Uncle Mac—"

- "What if Alexis is in there? And Mac's in full gear—"

She shot her cousin a disgusted look.

- "Are you trying to make me throw-up?"

Maxie shrugged as she made her way into the kitchen.

- "Hey, I'm just being realistic here. After what happened the last time those two had liquor in their system, it's quite possible that the bottle of wine was not the only thing that got uncorked and screwed."

Robin looked about the kitchen; it was just as clean as the living room. As she walked toward the back staircase, her phone buzzed.

- "Ok, Sam just sent me a message apologizing for forgetting to text us to let us know that Alexis had actually come home last night. She's going into her room right now to get some information out of her, although she's not optimistic."

- "She's not optimistic Mac and Alexis actually… you know. Or that is was another fail where he couldn't even, in this snow, plow through—"

Robin put her hand up.

- "You're seriously going to make me sick."

And before she could climb the steps, the kitchen door opened; Mac stared at them.

- "I know why you're here, and you can forget it."

Maxie crossed her arms.

- "Now you're shy, Daddy? When you couldn't get it up, you were a chatterbox of information, calling Robin and me to tell us every disgusting detail."

He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

- "Yea, I figured that since I had traumatized you so terribly, I'd be considerate of your feelings this time around… you're welcome."

He wrapped his arms around Robin.

- "By the way, thanks again for coming over to heat up the food. I don't know what I would've done without you and Patrick. I appreciated your help."

- "Did she like the food?"

He nodded.

- "Yea, it was a big hit."

Maxie opened the fridge; she grabbed the leftovers.

- "Did you hit any other things? Ruffle her feathers? Blindfold the lady of justice while you—"

Robin groaned in disgusting.

- "Will you STOP! Goodness, Maxie!"

But the blonde nevertheless continued.

- "I mean, I guess I could assume that you didn't otherwise you would've called us to tell us… or does that only happen when you randomly wake up naked with her?"

For someone who had been so grossed out by his overshare after his first night with Alexis, his daughter seemed more curious than normal. Mac was suspicious.

- "Why are you so interested in my sex life, Maxie?"

Not even bothering to heat up the food, she stuck a fork into the cold potato; she held it up to the man.

- "Since I wanted the best man to win my best friend's mother's heart… among other things."

* * *

_- "Okay, so we've helped you; now tell us about their date! Where'd Mac take Mom?"_

_Having just finished putting all of the groceries away, the girls followed Sam into her room. Seeing as she was spending the night, she wanted to change into her pajamas before they began their girl's night._

_- "I already told you; they went to Costco?"_

_Not showing any interest in giving the woman any privacy, both Kristina and Molly lied on their sister's bed as they continued to probe her for information._

_- "But you have Mac's car—"_

_- "Where's your car?"_

_- "Were you and Mac working together to surprise Mommy?"_

_Sam rolled her eyes as she changed._

_- "Mac and Mom have my car."_

_- "Why?"_

_- "Because I can't drive two cars at once, Krissy."_

_The girls were relentless._

_- "So you were working with Mac, then. This was a huge set-up?"_

_She walked out of the room and into her bathroom._

_- "GO GET CHANGED!"_

_Molly jumped off the bed to follow her, but Sam quickly shut and locked the door. The girl, however pounded on the door like a crazed journalist looking for the latest scoop._

_- "You're not going to be able to avoid this all night! You're going to have to tell us SOMETHING!"_

_And hearing the doorbell ring, Sam smiled at the pleasant interruption._

_- "Saved by the bell!"_

_She quickly finished up in the bathroom, slammed the door open, and made her way to the door._

_- "Go get changed! First one down gets to choose the first movie."_

_Without waiting for her sisters to agree to her terms, Sam walked out of the room. Reaching the living room, she found Maxie and standing on the other side of the glass door. She quickly ushered them in from the cold._

_- "Hey! Glad you could make it!"_

_Taking off her jacket, Maxie smiled at her friend's attire._

_- "Nice PJs."_

_Dopey the Dwarf was all over her pants while her t-shirt, customized like a jersey, had a huge number one on the front, with "Dopey" and again the number one written along the back._

_- "Believe me, I didn't choose them! My mother thought she was funny. Krissy and Mol have Grumpy and Happy."_

_With a smile, Robin raised her eyebrows._

_- "Well, we would've gotten here sooner, but someone was taking the better half of the century coming down from Spinelli's room—"_

_Maxie smacked her cousin in the arm._

_- "ROBIN! She did NOT need to know that… although… it really was a great time, Sam. You and Jason should really consider not getting married. The sex is—"_

_Seeing Molly enter the room wearing a similar pair of pajamas as Sam, Robin cleared her throat. From what she had heard from the prior morning's events, the poor girl had been subjected to quite the many subtle sexual jokes. Having a young and impressionable daughter of her own, Robin refused to have such conversations in front of the youngest Davis._

_- "Oh, hey Molly! You look too cute in your Happy outfit."_

_- "Thanks, Robin. Hi Maxie. What are you two doing here? Do you know about my Mom and Mac's date?"_

_Turning her sister in the direction of the kitchen, Sam gave the young girl a gentle push._

_- "Alright! How about you get the popcorn started while I entertain our guests?"_

_- "What if—"_

_Sam stopped her._

_- "I hate to pull ranks, Mol—"_

_- "So don't! I wanna know—"_

_She kissed her sister on top of her head._

_- "If you make the popcorn, I'll tell you and Krissy everything I know."_

* * *

- "Knock, knock!"

Diane walked into the empty living room. She knew that both Sam and Alexis were home as their cars were in the driveway.

- "Considering the fact that this town is riddled in mob violence, perhaps you might consider locking the dooooor!"

Unpacking the contents of the bag she carried into the house, she sang her statement.

- "You can't trust that any vagabond from the streets of Port Charles won't come strolling into your little chalet."

She walked into the kitchen collecting plates to set the table. She heard footsteps moving about down the halls; it was only a matter of seconds before the mother and daughter would come arguing in her presence. So, she hurriedly returned to the living room and set the table with her treats.

- "Lex, if you would be so kind as to hurry up; this bottle needs to be uncorked! The process, after last night's activities with Maximilian, is too tiring for me."

Dressed for the day, Alexis entered the room followed by an innocently smiling Sam. She had refused to drink the cup of coffee that her daughter had given her, but seeing as Diane had clearly let herself into her home, she figured she would first stop to say hello, before dumping the drink in the sink. She would go to Kelly's for another cup.

- "What the hell are you doing here, Diane… and so early? Happy Hour doesn't start for another hour… biding your time?"

Sam popped a strawberry from the table into her mouth.

- "And how did you get in? I know I locked the door before I went to bed."

Diane tossed Sam the key she had taken from underneath the porch chair cushion.

- "You really need to find a better hiding spot for this."

- "It's not everyday the town lush breaks into our house."

Turning her attention back to Alexis, Diane ignored her best friend's pint-sized daughter.

- "And do you really need to ask me what I'm doing here, Lex? Your date with Mac is so popular it's a trending topic on twitter!"

Alexis shuddered at the thought. She liked her life to be private. Unfortunately, given the town in which she lived and the people with whom she affiliated, privacy was not always possible. Someone was always in someone's business; sadly, as of late, the latter someone was her, and the former was everyone else.

- "What's all this?"

She pointed to the table Diane had set of strawberries, a bowl- rather Tupperware- of chocolate syrup, and a can of whipped cream.

- "It's leftovers… from last night."

Sam immediately spit out the strawberry she had dipped into the chocolate and put into her mouth. Luckily for her, at the mention of leftovers, Alexis had anticipated her gag reflex; she had her hand out and ready to catch the tainted fruit.

- "DAMN IT! Why would you—"

Alexis grabbed a napkin to cover Sam's mouth before a chain of curses was spit out worse than the chewed up strawberry.

- "Diane, while we appreciate the gesture, if you don't mind, we would prefer if you kept your… leftovers… home."

The redhead rolled her eyes as she shook a can.

- "I'll have you know, you perverted twit, that I purchased too many strawberries for Max and my liking. None of these went anywhere near the many crevices—"

Alexis put her hand in the air while Sam poured herself a large glass of wine. Neither woman needed any inference concerning what Diane had done with the other strawberries she had left… behind. Knowing Diane, the uses could easily be assumed to have been adventurous.

- "You know what? I think we're good. Now, Sam you probably want to head on home; don't you honey? You haven't seen Jason since yesterday—"

Diane continued.

- "You can take the strawberries and—"

Sam glared at the woman.

- "I hope you grow a strawberry bush—"

- "That would be delightful… for Max, of course."

Before her mother could grab the glass of wine she had poured from her hands, Sam quickly finished it; the image of a strawberry bush sickened her more than thought of where the strawberries the woman had brought them had been. She shuddered at the thought.

- "Mom, despite your friend's crudeness, I'm here for at least the next couple of hours until my buzz from drinking this wine at eleven-thirty in the morning on an empty stomach is gone… although if she keeps talking the way she is, your rug might need to be replaced."

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose.

- "Stop entertaining her with your own crude behavior and you wouldn't need to replace my rug."

She leaned into her mother.

- "I mean, you wouldn't want me driving in this condition would you? Certainly not in my pajamas; and definitely not when there's snow and black ice covering the ground."

She batted her eyelashes for emphasis as she poured herself a second glass.

- "Would you, Mommy?"

Alexis resigned herself to having her daughter stay home for at least the amount of time it would take her to sober up; she was fine with that as her home was her daughter's home as well. She would not ask her to leave if she was not ready… regardless of how irritating she became. Diane, on the other hand, should have been an easy fix; she could simply send her and her sex food leftovers home. She owed no duty to the woman. Sadly, she knew better; once Sam and Diane got together, they would bug her until they got the information they sought out of her. Neither woman would leave.

- "You know what?"

But, she was smarter than her daughter and best friend.

- "I actually have to be somewhere right now. And seeing as you haven't yet showered, baby, I guess you're stuck here until you've sobered up."

She kissed Sam on the top of her head and handed her the chewed up and spit out strawberry she had wrapped in a napkin.

- "Take care of that for Mommy."

And for good measure, making her way to the door, she grabbed Sam's car keys and the spare she kept on the hook. She put them in her purse.

- "Lock up if you leave before I return, sweetheart. Diane?"

The wino placed her hands on her hip.

- "You have your nerve leaving like this! I come here bearing gifts that I thought you'd enjoy like a sad housewife whose husband was banging his secretary, and this is how you repay me?"

Alexis winked.

- "Yes well, I'm sure you'll find someone else to give those to; I've got my own banging with a fully loaded gun, thank you very much. I'll be seeing you. Bye!"

And she quickly ran out of the house hearing the gasps of her best friend and daughter. She smiled widely as she made her way to the car.

- "Suckers."

Alas, her victory was short-lived. To her annoyance, Diane had made it her business to park in her driveway; she was stuck.

- "You're not as smart as you think, missy!"

She turned to find the red head smiling victoriously at her from the porch with Sam in a fit of laughter.

- "BEFORE I HAVE IT TOWED, I SUGGEST YOU MOVE YOUR CAR, RIGHT NOW!"

But the winds once again turned. Before the woman could respond, a car honked from behind the disgruntled homeowner.

- "Do you need a ride?"

She turned back around to Diane and Sam, stuck out her tongue. The fates, it seemed, were on her side.

- "I sure do, thank you!"

And walking to the car, from behind, she flipped a middle finger at the two women. Victory was hers.


	33. A Few Good Pinnochios

Um… I have no words for this…

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

**A Few Good Pinnochios**

She exaggeratingly waved to her daughter as she jumped into the young woman's father's car. Given that she took Sam's car keys and therefore left her stranded at home… or at least she found a ride, it served her dwarf right to have her main reprieve snatched up from underneath her.

- "You are a lifesaver, Mati!"

He gave her a kiss on either cheek before putting the car into drive.

- "If Samantha were in the car, I am sure she would make a comment about the center hole of the candy… and er, the sucking—"

She stared at him in shock.

- "Ok, you have known her for what? A _week, _and she's already got you sloshing around in the gutter with her? Goodness, it took me… well, after eleven years, I'm still not there. She surprises me more and more everyday."

Holding her hand, he smiled.

- "Alex, you must remember that children inherit fifty percent of their genes from each parent. Now, look at you… she had to receive her humor from someone, Cherie."

That was true. Mathieu had always been a wild joking type of guy. His suave demeanor, take charge, fearless attitude, coupled with an ability to make her laugh more than any other person ever could was what had attracted her to him all those years ago. The more she spent time with her daughter since Mati had returned to _their_ lives, the more she saw him in her.

- "I can't believe I never realized it before. She is just like you, you know?"

He smiled as he thought about the young woman.

- "That's a good thing."

- "Yea well, you owe me about $500,000 worth of bail money and attorney's fees. You need to take responsibility for what your genes have spawned in that monster."

And he would gladly have repaid her every single cent if it meant being given back the years that he had lost with his daughter.

- "Ok, écoutes; you are now relieved from any money to be paid for Samantha's future bail—"

She glared at him.

- "If there is any more bail money to be paid, the next payment you'll be responsible for after that will be her funeral because Mati, I swear to you, I would kill that daughter of ours. She promised that in dating Jason—"

Realizing that she had not yet spoken to Sam about her lunch with Mati and Jason, she stopped.

- "Uuuum… soooo… let's just say that she promised me that there won't be anymore bailouts."

He could sense her nervousness that she might have said more than she should have.

- "You almost pulled a Maxie—"

Had she been drinking anything, she would have spit it out in his car. Having spent years learning how to rephrase her sentences to avoid her daughter and best friend's guttered misinterpretations, Alexis found herself watching what others said; oftentimes she chuckled at their unconscious perverse statements.

- "You know, sometimes I wish I weren't so inundated with double entendres on a daily basis."

Of course he had not a clue of what he had done wrong. He frowned.

- "Is there a double meaning to what I said? I was talking about Samantha's loud and nosey friend; she has a way of talking too much and about everybody. You almost told me something about Samantha's relationship with Jason… the mob enforcer."

She was shocked beyond words. She did not think that Sam would have ever, in a million years, have told the man about Jason's… _profession_. Then again, with Maxie running rampant around time, it was only a matter of time before he would have found out.

- "Oh… she told you, then."

He nodded.

- "Well, yes. Somewhat. I somewhat tricked her into telling me."

And the shock continued.

- "HOW did you manage that? Did you forget that Sam was a con? How did you con a con?"

He smirked with pride.

- "I told her that Jason worked for this Sonny Corinthos person—"

- "How did you know that?"

She fell into the same trap he had planted for Sam. Clearly it was from her mother the young woman had inherited her gullible nature. Both women were easy to fool.

- "I didn't; however, both you and Samantha made it clear through your answers, that that is what he does."

She rolled her eyes.

- "Sooooo? What did you say? Dooo… to Jason. Is he still alive? I mean, your job here, as the protective criminally inclined—"

He gave her knee a squeeze. He had left his troublemaking ways in his youth. In fact, his stint at the PCPD the day he had seen Alexis had been the first time in twenty years since he and the police had had an encounter. He was still bitter.

- "Sauf que ton petit ami—"

And she could sense that.

- "Mac is NOT my boyfriend… at least I don't think he is. We're just… taking things slow."

As he attempted to respond, however, she put her hand up; she would not discuss her _relationship_ or whatever it was with her daughter's father. Especially since…

- "Now, before you ask me anything more about him and our date, how about you just take me… wait…"

Knowing that Sam had gotten her devious, deceptive, and all around charming characteristics from her father, a lightbulb went off in Alexis' head. Pursing her lips, she leaned toward him. Mathieu was shocked.

- "Tu fais quoi la, Alex?"

But she knew he knew what she was doing; it was typical… something Sam would do and conspire to have done. She unclicked the mute button on the car's speakerphone.

- "I really need you to take me back over to his house. I didn't want to tell Sam this, but I might have left my underwear there. – RED LIGHT, MATI!"

Realizing that he was about to run the light, he came to a screeching halt. He was in shock.

- "You slept with him? On the FIRST date?"

_- "OMG… do you think she really slept with him?"_

_- "If she did, it probably wasn't that good; look how crabby she was. She probably rushed home to finish off the job."_

_- "Oh stop it! I think it's pretty sweet. Plus she should thank me; I took her to get—"_

Alexis quickly muted the radio. Mathieu did not need to know about her waxing… although he seemed to be too absorbed in the thought that she had slept with the man whom he believed had stolen her from him.

- "Ahem, yea… um… It certainly was NOT our first date. Besides, we've already seen each other naked. And I mean, seriously, Sam is always talking about how it's just skin. All that needed to be done was for us to… you know."

She once again clicked unmute.

_- "I'll gladly take credit for that. I love my Mom, but she's too much of a prude. She's got a great body any guy would be happy to… you know. She needs to loosen up—"_

He stared at her in such shock that he failed to realize what she was doing… or that the light had turned and the people behind him were furiously honking their horns at him.

- "That's not like you. You… I can't believe—"

_- "Let's hope Mac's—"_

She shrugged her shoulders.

- "I mean, come on! It's 2010, Mati. Sam had provided us with great viewing pleasure that we…"

_- "Stop, I don't want to think about that… wait, what did she just say?"_

_- "If you'd shut up, you tiny toon, perhaps we'll be able to hear her."_

To continue the ruse on two women and their coconspirator, Alexis spoke over them… although it was becoming difficult not to laugh at their ignorance.

- "We had mad, passionate sex."

Within a millisecond of finishing the last word, two distinguishable screams filled the cars speakers.

_- "OH MY GOD! She got laaaaid! She finally got laaaaaaaaid!"_

_- "She had a taste of his Adam's apple, while he watered through her garden."_

_- "Now you know, Sam… that serpent hissed all the way—"_

Alexis immediately cleared her throat. The screams, along with the cars at the intersection that zoomed with passengers and drivers screaming obscenities at him, quickly snapped Mathieu from his daze.

- "Pull over."

Amid the continued excitement on the line, he did as he was told.

- "You lied."

She shrugged.

- "I didn't say that. – Hello ladies."

_- "Oh… damn. Samantha, honey… stop dancing. Your mother would like to speak to you."_

_- "Hi Mom! You don't have to say thank you; another day at the spa is more than enough."_

She could not help but smile; she loved spending the day at the spa with her daughters. Alas, she needed to remain firm.

- "I hope you enjoyed this morning's episode of 'Busted and Screwed.' Please stay tuned, you're up next on your live broadcast of 'Dumb, Dumber… aaaaand—"

She turned to look at the man.

- "Dumbest."

And with that, she stepped out of the car; Mac lived only two blocks from where they parked.

_

* * *

The consensus of the aftermath was unanimous… amongst those who understood what she had done:_

_- "Mom is going to kick your… butt."_

_Robin covered her face in embarrassment. Between Maxis and Sam, she was not sure who was worse. The former had a big mouth capable of revealing more than the likes of even Jenna Jameson cared to reveal, while the latter continuously pushed the envelope on the things she could do to turn Alexis beet red. This latest stunt certainly took the cake, rather…_

_- "CHERRY PIE? I don't know how I didn't see it. I guess that would explain Patrick walking out of the room when I put that huge cherry in the center. GOD, Sam! What the hell?"_

_Sam, who had taken a seat on the floor between Kristina and Molly, snorted as she laughed. _

_- "It's not my fault you're that innocent, Robin—"_

_The teen could not help but join in the laughter. If only they could have been flies on the wall when their mother saw the dessert._

_- "Even I get that joke! Then again, my big sister's humor has, according to our Mom, rubbed off on me."_

_Molly, being the only calm person in the room amidst the rampant laughter, frowned. She hated being left out of the joke._

_- "Wait, but doesn't Mommy like pie?"_

_Maxie shrugged._

_- "I don't know about Alexis, but Mac certainly does… buuuut, it has been a REALLY long time since he had any."_

_Kristina made a disgusted face. The conversation was going to a different level that she did not feel comfortable discussing. Joking about sex was one thing, thinking about Mac and even her mother…_

_- "Okay, I'm going to vomit—"_

_She stood to leave, but Sam grabbed the back of her pants._

_- "Hey, where you going?"_

_Before the teen could respond, Maxie flicked her best friend's hand._

_- "Excuse me, but you're sitting on the floor, your sister is standing, you're grabbing the back of her pants and she's standing in front of where I'm sitting. Guess what kind of view I'm getting."_

_Kristina immediately blushed before turning to smack her sister on the top of her head._

_- "You idiot!" _

_Sam hid behind Molly the best way she could._

_- "Sorry! I didn't mean it!"_

_Playfully kicking the woman, Kristina then grabbed the empty popcorn bowl._

_- "I'm going to fill this. Someone OTHER THAN SAM, choose the movie, please."_

_As she walked off, someone knocked on their door. _

_- "Are we expecting anyone else?"_

_Sam shook her head. _

_- "No. Go fill the bowl, I'll get it."_

_Hopping over Molly, Sam ran to the door. She pulled the blind back to see that her father had arrived unannounced._

_- "Dad." _

_She stepped aside so that he could pass._

_- "What are you doing here?"_

_He stepped in and gave her a kiss on either cheek._

_- "I know you were having a girl's night, but I know your mother has no food—"_

_Maxie crossed her arms against her chest._

_- "Oh, don't worry about that Mathieu. My dad, remember him? BIG Mac? He's taken Alexis grocery shopping… and then some."_

_Sam glared at her friend. She threateningly mouthed for her to stop being rude to her father, before turning her attention back to the man._

_- "Ignore her. You brought us food?"_

_He held up the two bags he had in his hands._

_- "Not quite. I brought you ingredients. I figured I could quickly make you and your sisters… well, and your guests, as well… if they would like… something from your culture."_

_Molly was highly amused. She loved French food._

_- "Oooh, you're so nice, Mati. What are you going to make?"_

_He found the young girl to be a spitting image of her mother._

_- "Well, I thought that you might enjoy some crepes. I have chocolate, strawberries, eggs, ham, cheese… whatever type you would like. It's really simple to make, and I will leave after—"_

_Robin, who had yet to be introduced to the man, stood to take the bags from his hands._

_- "You don't have to leave. You're welcome here… well, not that I live here or anything—"_

_Sam interrupted her friend._

_- "Oh, sorry! Dad to this is Robin Scorpio, Maxie's cousin… but don't worry about her; they're not blood related, so she doesn't have any of Maxie's social traits."_

_The blond rolled her eyes._

_- "She'd be so lucky."_

_Sam continued._

_- "Robin, this is my father, Mathieu LeGros."_

_Mathieu put one of the bags onto the floor so that he could extend his hand to the girl._

_- "It is very nice to meet you, Robin. Thank you for your kind invitation. – Samantha, Molly, do you mind?"_

_Both girls shook their heads. While both had been to Paris on family vacations, there was nothing like a home cooked crepes… especially ones that were not burned by their mother in the house they rented when they traveled to the countryside._

_- "Definitely not!"_

_Molly grabbed the bag he had placed on the floor and ran into kitchen followed by Robin, Sam, Mathieu, and disgruntled Maxie. _

_- "Can you teach me how to make them, Mati? I want to be able to have something new to make Mommy for Mother's Day Breakfast. Buttered toast and tea is getting pretty old."_

_- "Of course I can. I am, believe it or not, a very good cook. My grandfather, Samantha's great-grandfather, owned a famous restaurant in Paris for many many years. He taught me everything he knew in the hopes that I would take it over when he died."_

_Kristina, who had been sitting on the island waiting for the popcorn to finish popping in the microwave, was shocked to see her sister's father enter the kitchen._

_- "Hey Mati; I didn't know you were coming over."_

_Molly excitedly answered for the man._

_- "He's going to make us crepes! Oh… and he was just saying that Sam's great-grandfather owned a famous restaurant in Paris—"_

_She turned back to the man._

_- "Why didn't you run it like your grandfather wanted?"_

_He shook his head._

_- "After losing Alexandra—"_

_Remaining at the doorway, Maxie spoke under her breath._

_- "Alexis, you uncircum—"_

_However, Robin, who stood beside her and heard her comment, pinched the woman._

_- "Stop it."_

_Maxie pulled Robin from the room. Out of allegiance to her father, she decided to hate, well, more like distrust, her best friend's father. He was a threat._

_- "Do you even understand what he's doing?"_

_Not knowing the man, Robin could not comment._

_- "Not really? I mean, he's making food for Sam. It seems like he wants to get to know her and the girls. I think it's really sweet."_

_The blond could not believe her doctor cousin, who had been the top of her medical class and every other class she had been in, could be so dense._

_- "He's TRYING to get into Sam, Kristina, and Molly's good graces so that he can win Alexis back. I mean, what better way to get into a woman like Alexis's heart? Through her children and her barren kitchen."_

_Robin was doubtful._

_- "Oh come on—"_

_- "I'm SERIOUS, Robin! Mark my words; that man is in that kitchen right now trying to rekindle the fires of his lost romance through those girls… ESPECIALLY Molly. Once he gets her on his side, do you know how easily Alexis will fall for him?"_

_It was true that Molly was persistent in her mother's love life once she found the man whom she deemed to be perfect. However, Alexis was a smart one capable of making her own decision. If she still had any feelings for Mathieu, she would have chosen to date him over Mac. Or so she hoped._

_- "I think you're overreacting."_

_Maxie walked back into the living room. She would not remain in the house a second longer. She needed to come up with a plan._

_- "I don't care how nice he is, or how sincere; he is NOT going to steal Mac's one chance at love."_

* * *

Mac grabbed the DVD box of the movies Sam had given to him. He chuckled as he thought about how stupid he had been to trust the woman. Despite the years he had known her, it seemed that he still had much to learn about her, especially since he would be dating her mother and therefore be exposed to her non-criminal, yet devious antics. It was bad enough that he had Maxie; Sam was another handful.

Thinking of Alexis, he put one the DVD's into the player. He hit play before sitting on the couch.

- "I probably shouldn't watch this…"

But given how quickly he had turned it off for Alexis' horrified state, his curiosity… among other things… had peaked.

- "Well—"

Before he forgot, he ran to the door, locked and bolted it, shut the blinds, and returned to his seat.

- "Okay…"

With every scene of the _film,_ he found his interest harder to ignore… but, the phone rang.

- "Damn it."

He attempted to ignore it as he… well… you know… but once the ringing had stopped, it resumed once again.

- "WHY? WHY NOW?"

He apologetically looked down at his old friend.

- "I'm sorry."

Then again, once he saw the phone's display, he once again looked down.

- "Actually, I'm not…"

He answered… breathlessly.

- "Hi there. I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

Leaning against the car, Alexis smiled.

- "What do you mean? Did you not want to hear from me? Was last night THAT bad? And what in the world is that sound in the background."

He went to reach for the remote control, but it was nowhere near him; it was on the top of the television.

- "Um, nothing… it's nothing. Hold on a second."

She laughed at the nervousness in his voice.

- "Seriously, what are you watching? You sound like a person who just got caught with his hands in the cookie jar."

He blushed.

- "Um, haha… that's really funny, Lex. No, I'm just watching… um… I'm watching sports."

She was not convinced.

- "Hey, it's cold outside and I'm leaning against your car. Let me in."

_Like a supermodel in a centerfold._ His mind and… interest… were ganging up on him. He was beginning to sweat bullets.

- "Well, I would, but—"

She was now becoming suspicious. She did not like the noise in the background, the sound of his voice, or his reluctance in letting her into his house. Something was not right.

- "Do you have another woman in there with you, Malcolm Scorpio? I mean, I'm sure I don't have a right to—"

He stopped her. The only woman he wanted with him at that moment was her… unfortunately, if he opened the door, he was sure she would run for the hills. Then again, she was about to do exactly that if he did not quickly allow her in.

- "No, no, no, Lex… and um… you have EVERY right… I mean, we're… we're starting something here, right?"

She smiled. She wanted to see where their relationship could go. He made her happy.

- "Yea, we are. But, it can't go anywhere if you don't let me in. I'm kinda stranded here until you take me home. I don't have a car right now. Someone gave me ride."

He shut his eyes hoping that he could will his friend away. Sadly, the longer he spoke to her, especially with the movie playing, the more willing it was to remain him company.

- "Sorry… sorry… just… just give me a few minutes… I promise… a few minutes is all I need."

It was the middle of winter in upstate New York; if she gave him a few minutes, she would turn into a popsicle. She was freezing.

- "If you're afraid that I'll judge your place if it's messy, I won't. I promise. I'm just REALLY cold out here."

He could not leave her in the cold.

- "Okay… but… um… don't… don't judge me when you see me, okay? Please?"

Now she was nervous.

- "Oooookay… I won't."

He grabbed a pillow to put in front of him as he walked to the door.

- "Um, who gave you a ride?"

She hesitatingly responded.

- "Mati did."

And never before had he been more elated to hear that man's name. The thought that Alexis had been anywhere near him upset his little… well… large… friend. He quickly went for a walk.

- "OH!"

The excitement was not well masked.

- "Are you OKAY, Mac? You're really acting strangely right now."

He tossed the pillow into the coat closet, zipped his pants, and opened the door.

- "I'm PERFECT."

She looked up at him with a wide smile.

- "Yea, you are."

When she made it to the door, he wanted to grab her face and kiss her passionately, but he thought he should probably first wash his hands. Instead, he simply gave her a kiss and ushered her in from the cold.

- "You're not so bad yourself. If you'll excuse me, I just need to go… do something."

Stepping into the living room, however, she knew the reason for the hold up.

- "What? Wash your hands?"

While he horrifyingly looked at her, something came over her. She dropped her purse on the floor and immediately pulled him into a kiss.

- "Do you have a few good Pinocchios in you?"

_

* * *

Taking their date back into the kitchen, something within him made him apprehensive about watching movies Sam had chosen and promised to be her mother's favorites, but he did not know what else to do. The movies he had left in his possession after Maxie had moved out and taken his entire collection, consisted of Westerns, Cop dramas, and children's movies he put in for Emma when she came for a visit. They were not exactly date material._

_- "Um, so a little birdie told me that you like chick flicks?"_

_She blushed. It was not something she, a feminist, was proud to admit._

_- "Sadly I do. That little birdie is the reason for it."_

_He laughed as he put the DVD into the player._

_- "And that same birdie told me that THIS is your favorite of that… genre?"_

_Stressing the word in mock French fashion, he held up the case to 'He's Just Not That Into You.' She laughed at his silliness._

_- "Again, sadly… that birdie is right… but—"_

_She pointed to the screen._

_- "Um… WHAT the HELL is that? That's NOT how the movie is supposed to start!"_

_He turned to look at the screen. _

_- "OH… MY… GOD… WHAT is he putting… Oh my God!"_

_He quickly ejected it._

_- "I'm really sorry about that."_

_She shook her head as she grabbed the DVD case. While the image was as it should have been, the title was cleverly changed._

_- "Did you read the case, Mac? I assure you that my favorite movie is NOT, 'HE'S Just Not IN You.' Jesus Christ…"_

_She covered her flushed face. There were no words to convey the amount of trouble her daughter had found herself. She would need to come up with the ultimate payback for this debacle._

_- "I… just… just…"_

_She grabbed another DVD from the coffee table._

_- "Put this in."_

_He knew that he could not trust the woman's daughter. He had not become the Commissioner by doubting his instincts. Unfortunately, when he was around Alexis, his brain continued to malfunction. And he clearly did not learn his lesson._

_- "Ok… maybe this will be better then."_

_He made to move to sit beside her, but upon hearing the loud music not attributed to the legal genre of which the second movie was associated, he froze in his spot. Alexis, on the other hand, sat with her mouth hanging open. She too was shocked by the sight._

_- "Well… it doesn't look as though you were… um… mislead by this."_

_He finally found it in himself to turn and look at the screen. Flashing in bright red letters was the title…_

_- "A Few Good Men. Are you KIDDING me right now? There has to be some kind of copyright infringement on the use of the title and images on these DVDs! What the HELL?"_

_Alexis shook her head. There were no words._

_- "Okay, I don't even want to know what other movies she's chosen for us. Let's just choose something from what you have. I think my eyes need something innocent… and untainted in any way."_

_While he ejected the second DVD, she looked through his pitiful DVD collection. He was not optimistic that she would find anything, but hearing her gasp with excitement, he was clearly wrong._

_- "What did you kind?"_

_She smiled as she held the DVD to her chest._

_- "My all-time favorite Disney movie! Sit down!"_

_She put the DVD into the player before snuggling into him with the bowl of popcorn._

_- "I used to love watching this movie with the girls when they were young. It was the first Disney movie I had seen when I came to the States."_

_Alas, upon starting the movie, Pinocchio's nose grew and found itself in a very pleased Fairy. Alexis pressed her face into Mac's chest._

_- "Oh… God."_

_For her sanity, he found himself turning off the movie. He made a mental note to remove it from the shelf, but watch it later._


	34. Project Hokey Pokey

I'm so happy you all still enjoy this story. To answer the questions of where all this comes from, only God knows… It's my personality. Those who follow my personal twitter are well aware that I have many whacked out conversations with my mother (the prude with a surprising sense of humor) in our up and down relationship. That also inspires my looniness. LOL. Basically, I've always been a comedian with bitchy tendencies. I'm very uncensored and outspoken like some characters in this. I think that's what makes this fun to write.

As usual, please take the time to leave your thoughts.

UNEDITED.

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

**Project Hokey Pokey**

After returning from a long day of community service, Alexis was exhausted. It seemed as though the cases entailing the most paperwork were thrown onto her desk that day. Although the work was rewarding, she could not help but feel as though the other attorney's at legal services were taking advantage of her expertise. While she toiled like a slave without time for lunch, she could see from her corner cubicle her coworkers chatting as though they did not have a care in the world. Once five o'clock arrived, she flew out of door and headed home.

- "Where are you three?"

Seeing Sam's car parked in the driveway, she expected some sign of life in her house. Oddly, it was dark.

- "Anybody home? I've got pizza!"

She wondered where the girls had gone. Unsurprisingly, however, she found a note on the living room table.

"'_Girls and I went out with OD (Original Dad). Hokey Pokey… if you… well, he… can. Love you, Sam and the Weenies (no pun)'"_

Shaking her head, she put the note back onto the table on top of the pizza she had brought home, and made her way to her bedroom. Seeing as she would have the house to herself for some time, she decided to take a long bubble bath; it had been a while since she was able to do such a thing without any interruptions.

- "Phone off. "

She threw it onto her bed.

- "Clothes."

Too exhausted to put them into the hamper, Alexis did as her daughter's insisted on doing: she lazily tossed her clothing onto the floor. She would worry about them later.

- "iPod."

She grabbed it off her speakers.

- "Aaaand headphones."

She opened her drawer, but…

- "Of course they're gone."

She went into the back of her closet where she kept numerous extras of the things her daughters steal from her room: headphones, shampoo, conditioner, bubblebath, etc.

- "Thieves. Let's try this again…"

She quickly found a pack.

- "_Aaaaaand_ headphones."

Armed with her essentials, Alexis went into her bathroom, filled the tub with warm water and bubbles, and submerged herself. If heaven existed, she was in it.

- "Playlist… Brahms."

She pulled her reading table to her, placed her iPod onto it, put her headphones into her ears, shut her eyes, leaned her head against her bath pillow, and quickly fell asleep.

_- "Alexis?"_

_She lied in her bed snuggling with their newborn baby; she was fed, changed, and slowly drifting asleep for her nap. Her husband's call for her startled the child awake._

_- "I just got her calmed down! Look at what you did!"_

_He shook his head as he dragged their eldest daughter into the room._

_- "Well, somebody has managed to get taken in by the police—"_

_Alexis immediately stood. _

_- "ARRESTED?"_

_Seeing as the baby would not calm, she put a pacifier into her mouth before bouncing her in her arms. She ensured to do so calmly, hoping the agitation she felt as her daughter's latest stunt would not be felt by her little one._

_- "Fifteen years old and—"_

_Sam rolled her eyes._

_- "I didn't get ARRESTED, MOM. I was taken in. Really, I think that kinky cop, Cruz, just wanted to see me in handcuffs—"_

_Mathieu nearly laughed, but his impulse was quickly quelled by his wife's glare._

_- "That isn't funny, Samantha. Your mother is not happy with you right now."_

_Alexis kept her glare onto her husband for a moment before turning her attention back to her trouble-seeking daughter._

_- "What did you do, THIS time? Huh?"_

_The teen crossed her arms against her chest._

_- "Nothing."_

_Mathieu knew, but he dared not speak; his wife was looking for a response from their daughter._

_- "I'm going to ask you this one last time, Sam. Answer wrongly and you'll be sorry. What did you do THIS time to get TAKEN into the police department?"_

_Sam nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders._

_- "Ok fine. I MAY have told him that if he holds onto his nightstick any harder his real one was going to turn on him in jealousy. I told him that he'd be left so limp that he'd be wishing for a beating. I also told him that he's probably so pent up that he could probably extinguish a forest fire with his—"_

_Mathieu had held his laughter in for so long his face turned red, his nose felt as though it would explode, and his eyes watered. His daughter's mouth had gotten her into trouble and onto punishment on more occasions than he could count. His entertainment at her lack of impulse control rendered the same, albeit more torturous, result. As a result, before Alexis could scream at him, he quickly grabbed the baby from her arms, and made his way to the door. _

_- "Er… I… I'm sparing Krissy from… such filth. Samantha, you should be ashamed."_

_She shook her head as she watched him walk out of the room. She would… punish him… later. _

_- "Ok—"_

_She grabbed Sam by the arm and sat her on the bed._

_- "What in the world compelled that tongue-lashing?"_

_- "He should be so lucky."_

_She pointed a threatening finger at her daughter._

_- "This is NOT the time to be… cute. Answer me."_

_Letting out a sigh, Sam pursed her lips before responding._

_- "He called me a truant, grabbed me by the arm, and tried to get me to go back to—"_

_She stopped speaking. In a matter of seconds, she had managed to dig herself into a bigger hole._

_- "Damn."_

_Alexis nodded in agreement._

_- "Yup. Damn is right. You want to talk filth and skip school? Well, let's see here; I'm not a pro at this as much as you clearly are, but I'm going to give it a whirl." _

_The teen sighed._

_- "Just punish me and get it over with, please. I need to pee."_

_She grabbed her daughter by the arm and led her to the bathroom._

_- "By the end of the night, your hand will be so sore from gripping wood. Your wrist will want to fall off as you stroke it along a hard surface. Your mouth will be filled with a hard creamy goodness a bit off on the taste buds; you'll swallow at your own caution. And keep going, your bottom will be so sore you wont be able to walk straight or sit on it." _

_And for good measure, she gave it a swat._

_- "Got it?"_

_Sam slowly nodded as she closed the bathroom door. Her mother did not make idle threats. _

- "Pervert."

Sam frowned as she pulled the headphones from her mother's ears.

- "Hey! I take offense to that! I wouldn't be in here unless it were important."

Startled from the realization that she was no longer home alone, Alexis screamed. She brought the bubbles closer to her.

- "Jesus Christ, Samantha! Get out. Are you adding Peeping Tom to your resume, now?"

Sam shook her head.

- "God noooo… Trust me, I have a list of people I'd like to peep on, and nowhere are you listed."

She rubbed her eyes in irritation.

- "Then what do you want?"

- "I have something to tell you. Something that you might want to know and deal with… like now."

- "While I'm in the tub? It couldn't have waited until I was… gee… I don't know, _dressed_?"

Rolling her eyes, Sam sat on the edge of the tub.

- "Well, no… not particularly. Buuuut, you… um… okay—"

Her daughters, the eldest and the youngest, seemed to always have things to tell her when she was in the bathroom. It seemed as though they timed their crises at that precise moment. She really needed to remember to lock her door.

- "Stop rambling and get to the point please. I mean, why couldn't you wait, saaaaay ten more minutes—"

- "Mom, please! You were knocked out in here calling me a pervert—"

She covered her face before glaring at her daughter.

- "I wasn't calling _YOU_ a pervert, I was calling the teen you, the one in my dream—"

Seeing the look of confusion on Sam's face, she waved her hands in the air. She would have told the younger woman about her dream, but she did not want to hear any smart-alecky comments. In fact, she had this had not been the first time in the past month that she had had a similar dream. In every single one, she was married to Mathieu, Sam was of course their daughter, as was Kristina, but Molly was either a newborn, or had yet to be born. Regardless the situation, and despite her confusion as to why she was married to the man when she was in a happy relationship with Mac, one thing was certain, her daughter would have still been a smart-ass pervert even if raised as planned.

- "You know what, forget it. Just hurry up and tell me what you want so that I can get out. The moment is ruined."

Sam smirked.

- "Do you need a few minutes to—"

- "No, I was just—"

She stopped. Her daughter was once again being… _herself_.

- "I was OBVIOUSLY sleeping and enjoying a few moments of peace without it being interrupted. Goodness! I'm pretty grateful for Kristina right now; she's so disgusted by the thought of seeing me undressed, she steers clear of my bathroom at all costs. You and that little one, on the other hand, neither of you have boundaries."

- "We learn it from our Mama."

Admittedly, she was not known for her knocking skills, but as she saw it, she paid the mortgage. Every room in the house belonged to her.

- "ANYWAY. What exactly do you want?"

Before her mother had a fit, Sam figured it best to blurt out, in her circular way, the news.

- "Remember about five years ago, on a snowy day, a cute and precocious six year old came screaming and crying into the house over an angel she was _convinced_ had been shot by her Uncle Sonny's men?"

Alexis shut her eyes; the memory was engrained into her mind. It was by far the funniest thing that her youngest daughter had ever done… albeit traumatizing.

- "Kristina's snow angel."

Sam continued in the hopes that what she was saying would be made clear without her having to actually say the words.

- "Well, that little six year old hasn't harmed an angel as our dear Krissy did… actually, just her pants… while rolling a big ball… towards a gaping hole… blocked by—"

And before the incident could be turned into filth, Alexis sat up in shock.

- "Wait, did Molly…"

Seeing the knowing look from her shocked mother, Sam nodded.

- "Bingo! And by the way, I'm just going to put this out there, Mom, but Mati really knows how to get it in."

Alexis' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

- "WHAT?"

Sam shook her head as she grabbed a towel.

- "Bowling… we were bowling. JESUS, get your head out of the gutter! He bowled many a strike today."

She handed it to her mother.

- "Now, put the twins away; you don't want to ruin their shelf life on me. Save that for eventual Maclovin'. You've got a blooming flower to speak to before we head out—"

Wrapping herself in the towel, she got out of the tub as Sam walked out of the bathroom.

- "And where are we supposed to be headed?"

Not stopping to be told no, she called over her shoulder.

- "JAKE'S!"

_

* * *

- "Alright, so far Team Frog Legs is in the lead by a strike, can Team Gargoyle acquire enough velocity to—"_

_Sam laughed as she interrupted her youngest sister's commentary on their bowling game. As it turned out, their teams were easily matched: Mati joined forces with Sam, while Molly played with Kristina. Neither Sam nor Kristina could completely get a grasp on the sport._

_- "Hey, stop that! The only reason why you and Krissy are so close to us is because you're calculating wind speed and all that jazz. If we were playing blackjack, you'd be kicked out on your ass—"_

_Mati tapped her knee. He had come to learn in the short time that he had known her, that she had quite the vocabulary and way with words much of which was unappreciated by her mother._

_- "Samantha."_

_She rolled her eyes._

_- "Butt. You can't do math in a friendly game of 'You're going doooown.'"_

_Kristina handed Molly her bowling ball._

_- "Ignore her, Mol. Sam's just jealous that we—"_

_Molly shook her head._

_- "That I'm about to beat her, Kristina. You're just as bad as she is in this game. You're too concerned with your nails, and Sam… I don't know… she's great at shooting things—"_

_Sam quickly stood and covered her little sister's mouth as she innocently smiled at her father._

_- "She's so funny. We've played countless shooting games at carnivals. I've won her many a teddy bear because I'm great at aiming the squirt gun at the holes… big or small."_

_- "Speaking of—"_

_Sam stretched toward Kristina; she used her other hand to cover her mouth while turning to look at her father._

_- "She just wants to know if you… um… if you… oh hell… Molly, just play. Kristina…"_

_She glared at the smiling teen._

_- "I'll be paying you back for that one."_

_Kristina rolled her eyes._

_- "We'll see about that…"_

_She lowered her voice._

_- "Project Pokey."_

_Sam turned to look if her father had heard her sister. From what she could tell, the man was oblivious as he smiled at them. She had grown to love her father._

_- "Don't mind us—"_

_She turned back to her sister._

_- "Make another mention of that, and I'll see to it that that picture I have floating around on one of my many computers is released into the cyberworld, courtesy of Spinelli."_

_Kristina quickly relented. Her sister, like their mother, did not make idle threats._

_- "Fine."_

_Mati simply stared and smiled at the scene. He had spent many years focused on his studies, angry at his parents, and simply sleeping around without any real thought to starting a family of his own after losing the one that he had wanted most in the world, that he never had this: children… bickering ones… but nevertheless children. Over the month, he had enjoyed spending time with his daughter and her sisters. He loved getting to know Sam in all types of situations: with her mother, boyfriend, friends, and now sisters. Her personality was similar to his._

_Turning to look at the little one who had taken so easily to him, he tapped Sam._

_- "Samantha, I think you should… you should… er—"_

_She stared at him. There really was no hope for her after all; both her parents rambled nervously._

_- "What's the problem?"_

_He pointed to Molly who had just gone into position to bowl her turn. Sam's eyes widened as she looked for something to cover her sister up._

_- "Oh… sh!t. Kristina—"_

_She grabbed her ATM card from her backpocket._

_- "Go get Molly some… you know… like now. But don't get the other stuff… I think Mom should teach her how to… you know. Get her the other stuff."_

_Kristina nodded._

_- "Okay."_

_Sam stopped her._

_- "And a change of pants… and… well, underwear."_

_- "Ok, got it. Um… just take care of… that before anyone else notices."_

_She pulled an unaware Molly to her._

_- "Don't panic, Mol; uuuum… little red riding hood just lost her life."_

_- "What?"_

_Sam walked her directly into the bathroom._

_- "Mom will explain that to you when we get home. Just pray Diane is nowhere around and don't make any mention of anything you're about to figure out in front of her. You'll be even more screwed up then.." _

_Luckily the alley was empty; they would lock themselves in there until Kristina returned._

* * *

- "Okay, let me do all the talking okay? Mac can't stand you, and he's definitely not going to want to spend any more time with you if you open your mouth and say something stupid."

Spinelli immediately began to fix his hair, straighten the tie that Maxie had made him wear, and adjust the strap on his laptop bag he had refused to leave behind.

- "Alright Maximista, the Jackal shall ensure to remain as quiet as a samurai in the night. You, my little love vessel can trust in me to be cooperative."

She snuck a quick kiss before unlocking the door to her father's house.

- "You'd better, otherwise love potion #9 won't be going anywhere near this vessel for a very, _very_ long time… or at least not tonight… and maybe not tomorrow. I can't punish myself you know. A happy Queenie is a happy—"

He stopped her poor attempt at being clever. His love was more of a blunt speaker; double entendres was not her forte.

- "Whatever Maximista likes, she will get."

They entered the house to the scent of dinner being made in the kitchen. Spinelli's stomach automatically began to growl.

- "The Jackal feels enticed by the wonderful scent of barbecue. Perhaps the guardian of justice has taken to the jackal? He is preparing one of his favorite meals?"

She pushed him forward before he became lost in his love affair with all things barbecue.

- "Don't go getting all sentimental, Spinelli! It took over a month for me to get him to even allow you into his house; if you start speaking your Spinelli speak that he doesn't understand and insinuate that he loves you or whatever because I happened to tell him that he had better cook something that you'll like, I will crush your chips. Got it?"

Spinelli nervously laughed; she was not joking.

- "Okay."

Maxie gave his backside a squeeze as she led him into the kitchen where Mac was setting out the food.

- "Hi, Daddy!"

She gave him a kiss and a hug.

- "Sorry we're late—"

Mac glared at his non-son-in-law.

- "Please don't tell me—"

She scoffed at his insinuation.

- "Goodness Daddy! Unlike you, I don't share certain _private_ things! I was busy at work! Kate's been in a bitchy mood lately since she and Coleman broke up… you know… she hasn't… in a _long_ time. I mean, not as long as you, but—"

He hated that his business, or lack thereof, with Alexis was common knowledge. He had attempted to befriend Patrick as his confidante, but Robin seemed to beat, in more ways than he cared to think, the information out of him. And from there, Robin told Maxie, then Maxie told Sam, who confronted Alexis with Diane, of course, present. There was something about Alexis that gave him performance anxiety.

- "Thank you very much, Maxie. I don't think your Jackass—"

Spinelli put his hand up as though he were some schoolboy.

- "Um… excuse me, guardian of—"

At Mac's glower, he corrected himself.

- "Co… commissioner… Scorpio… I am the Jackal… but… I guess it is easily confused. Um… carry on."

Maxie smiled sympathetically at her nervous non-husband. They were two very different people, but they were meant to be. Her sister's death had brought them together.

- "Listen Mac, I'm not going to lie to you or anything. I'm going to be completely straight and honest. I want you to go out with us to Jake's. I think the reason you can't get it up and play Cowboys and Indians with Alexis because you still haven't learned to loosen up. You're too… uptight… instead of being… up right."

His face reddened. Although Spinelli continued to act as though he was not paying any attention to the highly revealing conversation, he sunk deeper into the kitchen chair to the point where more than half of his body was under the table. Before the klutz caused the food on the table to fall over on top of him, Mac pulled Maxie from the room.

- "Okay, you have been trying too hard to move things along with my relationship with Alexis. I think you crossed the line yesterday with the Viagra laced smoothie. Thank God Robin had enough sense to warn me before I drank it. I could've had a heart attack—"

She shook her head.

- "Not if you had called Alexis to unclog your arteries for you."

Before he could speak further, she put her finger to his lips.

- "I know that you're uncomfortable with these conversations, Daddy, but so am I. Believe me, I didn't think that I would be spending my every waking hour for the past month trying to get you laid! This hasn't been the most thrilling time for my own sex life—"

- "MAXIE!"

She rolled her eyes.

- "Listen, you keep acting like a fish out of water, all floppy without any sense, and Alexis is going to leave you for Mathieu! Do you want that?"

His mind went back to their disastrous date of cherry pie and porn, and the sight he had seen after dropping her home.

- "No."

She put her hand on his shoulder.

- "He's already got her kids wrapped around his finger, Daddy; you do NOT want her hooha wrapped around his little weewee. Get it together! You've got a fish to catch!"

She returned to the kitchen to retrieve her cell.

_"Project Hokey, accomplished."_

_

* * *

- "Well, that was an interesting evening."_

_They sat in the driveway of her house with the lights of her turned off; she did not want to signal to her children that she had arrived. Luckily for her, both of them (well, including Sam's car which she currently had in her possession) drove hybrid cars that could quietly be started._

_- "I'm really sorry about Sam's—"_

_He shook his head._

_- "If you apologize for Sam's ploys throughout the night, then you'd be calling me a moron for actually asking her help—"_

_Thinking about the stunts he had pulled over the week, she laughed aloud._

_- "Well, you have to admit that you've been in rare form, Mac. I mean, you choosing Sam to help you on our date would be like me asking Maxie for tips on… you know. Those are things that you should just never do… Like, NEVER."_

_He joined in her laughter; she was right._

_- "Fine… fine… even though you won't explicitly say it, I guess I will: I'm an idiot. I'll have Robin send you a bouquet of flowers for me—"_

_- "As long as you write the card yourself."_

_He leaned forward to give her a kiss._

_- "You've got a deal."_

_She wiped the lipstick that remained on his lips._

_- "Now, we have to be very smart about this. I'm going to back my car out so you can get yours, then I'm going to sneak into the house from the back. I do NOT want my nosey daughter asking if your dynamite stick exploded, or if I rode your pogo stick, or anything of the sort. I'm going to just get undressed and crawl into bed—"_

_He raised an eyebrow at the mention of her undressed. He could now appreciate what he would hopefully soon willingly and soberly have. He could not wait._

_- "Hmm… That's a nice thing to think about."_

_Putting her hand over his mouth, she smiled in only the way she could; she made his… insides tingle._

_- "Be careful Commissioner; I'd hate for you to ruin this moment with one of your infamous foot in mouth comments."_

_Not allowing him to say another word she unlocked the door._

_- "Out you go, Mr. Scorpio. Thank you for a wonderful evening. We'll talk tomorrow." _

_He attempted to say goodnight, but she shook her head and waved him out of the car. Once he had tiptoed toward his car, she reversed out, and allowed him to do the same. As she moved Sam's car to the spot Mac had previously occupied, she finally noticed a car she had never before seen._

_She looked at her watch._

_- "It's two o'clock in the morning. Who in the world—"_

_She tiptoed toward the porch. The sight before her made her smile: Kristina was half asleep with her head on Sam's lap, while Molly snuggled into the man on whose shoulder Sam had rested her head and continued to watch the television. They looked like a family._

_- "Wow."_

_She smiled for a moment before making her way to the back of the house. She never noticed the man sitting in the car watching to ensure that she had made it inside safely. She did not see the look of sadness in his eyes at the thought that he might not be a worthy competitor for her heart._

* * *

Hearing her mother reenter her bedroom, Sam walked out of the closet holding up an outfit she deemed appropriate for the evening. According to the message she had received from Maxie, their plan seemed to be a go for Mac; now was the time to get her mother on board… so she could finally be… on his board.

- "How'd it go?"

Alexis ignored the fact that Sam had returned to pester her, and placed back the book she had taken from her bookshelf.

- "She was embarrassed. Poor Molly had to get it in the middle of a bowling alley… with your father being the one to notice. Geez, at least Kristina's first period happened while she was home with you nearly hyperventilating from laughter. She's mortified. I swear she's going to have a complex. Snow angels and bowling alleys. Goodness."

Sam put the clothes she had chosen onto the bed then grabbed the book she had just seen her mother sneakily return.

- "'Your Body and You.' Wow. You showed her pictures?"

She shrugged. That was how she had gotten through the uncomfortable explanation with Kristina.

- "She likes books! I didn't know what to do about it. It's never the most comfortable situation. When I was a kid and this happened, I wouldn't have dared go to Stefan for advice about this. I loved him, but he was a prude—"

Sam smirked.

- "Color me surprised."

Taking a seat beside her daughter on the bed, Alexis let out a sigh.

- "Yea, you're right. And because of that, I didn't have anyone to tell me that I wasn't dying. So, when I had Kristina, I had to learn as I went along. The books helped with her… although she was a lot like what I'm sure you would have been, sassy and annoying—"

They may have been raised in two different socioeconomic classes, but their upbringings were the same; they had no one. Sam wished that she had been her mother's guinea pig.

- "Thanks, Mom."

Alexis laughed.

- "I'm serious! You two are cut from the same cloth… literally. But, my Molly, she's a sweetheart. She's still my baby. This was a piece of cake. I showed her the books, asked her which thing she would prefer to use… of course she wanted to be like her sisters. So, I showed her pictures on how to use it, she did it, and that was it. By the end, I think I was more traumatized than she was."

Sam's phone buzzed.

"_Well?"_

She ran her fingers through her hair thinking of how she would convince her mother to go out for drinks. She knew that the woman had had a long day at the office, which was why she got Mathieu to take her and her sister's bowling; she wanted the woman to have some relax time before she sprung the evening's outing on her.

- "Alright! Now that that's done and over with, how about you get dressed so we can go out."

Alexis immediately shook her head.

- "Sam, I'm exhausted; I just want to curl up in my bed, read a book, and go to bed. Can we do this tomorrow or something?"

Sam's phone went off again.

"_Make sure she looks like a Playboy Bunny… well, the best way she knows how seeing as she's two and a half times a normal—"_

The message cut off for excessive characters.

- "Mom, please! Just come with me! Kate… she's going. When was the last time you saw her?"

She once again held up the outfit.

- "Please? It's going to be _fuuuuun_. We'll have some drinks, chat a little, and head home if you get bored. Come on!"

Groaning in agitation, Alexis grabbed her clothes from her daughter.

- "You're really becoming a thorn in my side."

She walked into her closet and closed the door leaving Sam to giddily text Maxie.

"_Project Pokey, done. Phase two: Hokey Pokey. See you in a few."_


	35. Oral Contracts

Shorter for lack of time.

Many thanks for your comments! Please keep them coming.

UNEDITED

**[b][u]Chapter Thirty-Five[/u]**

**Oral Contracts[/b]**

- "Just meet me there!"

Sam pinched the bridge of her nose to the reluctant response she received. She hated arguing with the man to be social.

- "Listen to me, Jason; you agreed—"

She laughed as he interrupted her.

- "How I got you to agree doesn't matter. The point is that you agreed to come… no pun… so now you have to… especially because you love me. Now, if I don't see you there with bells on, there'll be no… you know… anytime soon. Bye, babe."

She slipped the phone into her back pocket as to walked into the empty living room. She had given her mother ample time to get ready for their night out; it was clear that she was dawdling.

- "MOM! Let's go!"

Alexis rounded the corner into the room wearing the outfit Sam had selected for her, along with a stylish clutch she had found hidden on the top shelf of her closet. She was not sure when or where exactly she had gotten it, but she figured that it would work just fine for the evening.

- "Relax! I was just telling your sisters we were leaving."

She looked Sam over.

- "You look beautiful, honey."

Before Sam could return the compliment to her tight jean wearing, bust hugging mother, the doorbell was rang. Alexis moved to answer it.

- "Are you expecting someone?"

- "Despite the amount of time I spend here, I don't exactly live here. Maybe Krissy—"

And no.

- "Diane! What—"

Without waiting for an invitation into the house, the distressed woman crossed the threshold.

- "I can't take it anymore, Lex! I feel like a turkey on Thanksgiving."

As she moved to dramatically drop her bag on the floor, she recalled the bottle of wine she had inside of it. Taking it out, she looked at her best friend.

- "I have been oiled up, stuffed, basted, and now—"

She dramatically dropped her bag on the floor while holding her beloved bottle of wine.

- "I am burnt from an overheated oven. I can't take it anymore, Lex. My innards are—"

Sam shook her head in a disgusted fashion.

- "WHOA! Time-out! No, no, no… not tonight."

She could have taken Diane's oversharing on any night, except that one. She and Maxie had worked too hard to get their plans on the ball to have it ruined by the hypersexual attorney.

- "We have plans. Go home. My mother will call you tomorrow."

Alexis smacked her daughter in the arm.

- "Sam."

- "WHAT? We do! Come on, get her out of here before this turns into the Drunken Vagina's Monologues or something—"

As though she had not heard a word the younger woman had said, the redheaded woman shed her coat and began to uncork her bottle.

- "It has been a month of non-stop Merry-Go-Round riding. I just… I can't take—"

- "Mommy, I think I have cramps. I feel like—"

Molly froze in her spot. She blushed upon realizing that Diane was in the room.

- "Oh… forget it."

But before she could leave, the woman who had not bothered to use a glass and instead drank her wine directly from the bottle, smiled sympathetically and somewhat enviously at the girl.

- "Our little flower has bloomed, has she?"

Molly covered her face in embarrassment.

- "Mooooom—"

Alexis shook her head.

- "Run away… NOW."

Diane, however walked over to the girl.

- "NO! Come over here my teeny-weenie peppermint stick… wait, that seems inappropriate."

She turned to her best friend.

- "Hey Lex, you're good at giving your three peanuts… Wait… _[i]Jesus God HELP ME![/i] _I can't turn it off—"

Sam scoffed.

- "Were you ever able to?"

Taking another swig from her wine bottle as she ignored Sam's retort, Diane wrapped her free arm around Molly's shoulder.

- "Let's have a little chat; you and your Aunty Di—"

But Sam quickly grabbed the confused and embarrassed girl.

- "Please don't traumatize my little sister. How about we call you a cab… or you can tell us whatever is on your mind—"

Feeling obligated to ward the girl from disaster in her life, Diane pulled Molly back to her.

- "It isn't my _[i]mind[/i]_ that's the issue here, _[i]SAMANTHA[/i]_! It's my—"

Knowing that the woman was on the road to complete inebriation, Molly stared helplessly at her mother. All she had wanted was some Tylenol.

- "[i]_Mommy![/i]_"

Alexis felt her face flush. If she did not get Diane out of her house, her daughter would be sure to learn more about… _[i]life[/i]_ than she cared for the girl to know. As it was, her best friend was scarring the child more than delivering the girl in a train wreck had caused to her own body. She had to save her baby.

- "Molly, tell Kristina to give you something for your stomach. I'll come by to check on you before I leave—"

Sam interrupted; they were running late.

- "Mom, we're leaving—"

However, Alexis was having no part in being rushed. Her best friend was drinking wine as though it were plain grape juice, her eldest daughter had practically dragged her from the tub, her baby had become a woman soon-to-be spawn, and now she was being rushed out the door when all she wanted to do was curl in her bed with a book. She was quickly becoming agitated with the situation.

- "In fifteen minutes, Sam. FIFTEEN minutes; that's all I need."

- "Fine! _[i]Sorry![/i]_"

Noticing her daughter put her hands in the air in acquiescence, Alexis moved to Diane.

- "OKAY!"

She grabbed the wine bottle before the woman could take another sip.

- "Rule #1, we don't allude to, insinuate, or overtly make outrageous comments in front of my [i]_eleven year old[/i]_ daughter who has now reached the age of… fertility. Rule #2, there will be no chatting with my [i]_eleven year old[/i]_ daughter about her blooming. I don't want you traumatizing her. And rule #3—"

Diane reached for the bottle, but pouted when Alexis held it from her reach.

- "What? Thou shall not breathe in the same vicinity as your eleven year old _[i]bleeding[/i]—"_

Sam jumped in to stop the woman from continuing. Comments about her mother and her were fine, but she would not allow the same to occur about her sister.

- "HEY! Keep Molly out—"

The drunken woman rolled her eyes.

- "[i]_HEART![/I] _I have BOUNDARIES, you know! She's a bleeding _[i]heart[/i]_… a ROMANTIC… or something like that. I think that's what it means. Give me my bottle back. It's the only long necked thing I want to soothe me for a long while."

Alexis let out an exasperated breath. Her head was going to explode.

- "Oh… my… _[i]God[/i]_. What did I ever do in my life to deserve this?"

She took a swig from her best friend's bottle; she needed a drink.

- " _[i]NUMBER THREE[/i]_ was if you intend to get toasted, I suggest you do it—"

Seeing Diane cower in a bushed disgust at her unintentional double entendre, Alexis rolled her eyes.

- "I suggest if you decide to get _[i]TOASTED[/i]_, do _[i]SO[/i]_ on the porch because you're not going to ruin my couch or rug."

And to prove she was serious, she placed the bottle outside.

- "That's the drinking fountain. Alright? Out there! NOT in here!"

She left the door opened for the woman to follow it like a puppy to a bone.

- "Oh, and Samantha?"

Biting her cuticle as she leaned against the chaise waiting to leave, Sam looked at her mother.

- "Yup?

She grabbed the car keys from the keyholder and threw them at her daughter.

- "You're forcing me to go out and have fun; you're the designated driver."

And leaving the room at the sound of her daughter's partial groan and squeal, Alexis headed toward her youngest daughter's bedroom to undo any damage the few minutes of exposure to Diane had done.

* * *

Mac walked… well, Maxie _[i]dragged[/i]_ him into the bar. He was not certain of how bringing him to the place where he had gotten completely wasted a month prior could have possibly helped his inability to raise the bar in his relationship with Alexis. Aside from bringing her into his life, Jake's had done nothing but give him torment and his daughter a new hobby.

- "Do you want to explain to me how being here is going to help my relationship with Alexis?"

Maxie smacked the bar to get Coleman's attention.

- "No, not really."

Noticing his customers, Coleman smirked as he carried a beer and an orange soda their way.

- "Ah! Look who's here! It's my favorite non-married couple, Pixie Dust and Barbeque Sauce. We're all set—"

Maxie quickly shook her head; she had not told Mac the evening's plans.

- "Coleman! How about you get Mac something to drink? Huh?"

In an overt way to flirt with the young non-married woman, the dirty bartender ran his hands through his greasy hair.

- "You got it, gorgeous."

He turned his attention to the commissioner who had just shoved his daughter away from the bar.

- "Mac, my man! What can I do you for? The last time you were in here, you and the ever gorgeous tight-ass, in [i]_every[/i]_ way, lady of justice—"

Mac stopped him. That was his… his… _[i]something[/i]_ Coleman was talking about.

- "Hey! Just get me a beer without the Alexis talk, thanks."

Coleman nodded as he walked back to the end of the bar flirting with every woman that caught his eye. Since his break-up with Kate, he had been on the prowl for the next uptight, self-righteous, independent, self-made woman; he found the chase thrilling. Seeing how offended Mac got at his comments about Alexis, the popular bartender hoped he had not lost his chance at using the commissioner to set him up with other attorney-types such his girl.

- "Here you go, dude. I meant no harm in my comments about your little lady."

Mac appreciated the apology. It was bad enough that he had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth when speaking to Alexis; he did not need others to follow suit.

- "Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

Coleman handed him a bowl of nuts.

- "On the house as long as you…"

He snickered as he noticed Maxie glaring in his direction.

- "Keep your head up."

Unlike the muscular, blue-eyed man who clearly did not want to be in the bar but nevertheless entered, the petite blond was not known for her discretion.

* * *

Staring through the rearview window at the woman hugging the bottle of wine to her body as though it were a treasured doll, Sam shook her head in disgust. The night was not going according to plan.

- "Why the hell did you let her come with us?"

Alexis leaned her head against the window. Babysitting her best friend was not something that she had planned, but it was not as though she had much of a choice.

- "Seeing as she's had half of a bottle of wine by herself in ten minutes, my options were to stay home with her where she could continue to traumatize your sister, let her stay home _[i]alone[/i] _with both of your sisters and inflict her damage on them, ooooor take her with us. Now, which of those would you have chosen?"

Sam stated the obvious solution.

- "Um… I would've taken her home—"

Alexis countered.

- "Alcohol poisoning."

- "Max's—"

She stared at her daughter as though she had twenty heads.

- "Isn't that why we're stuck running a night care center for a borderline nymphomaniac alcoholic? Max is just as bad as she is. If we take her over there, he'll—"

- "Hop on her like an unfixed dog in heat."

- "Basically. And you will NOT be happy if I have to drop her off at your house in the middle of the night because she's a liability on my sanity and on your sisters'… _[i]everything[/i]_."

Sam sighed as she stepped out of the car to open the back passenger door for her mother's drunkard best friend.

- "Knock Knock! I'm opening the door! Please do NOT fall out when I do so. You have been warned. Mom—"

The expert attorney walked around the car to stand on the other side of the door. She would catch Diane if she fell from the car, but first…

- "Diane Miller, by my daughter opening this door and by you stepping out of the car, you waive all rights to bring forth any lawsuits against either or both Samantha McCall or Alexis Davis, or the Cassadine family and all they own. You agree that anything you are told you have done, or what you will recall in the morning when you awake _[i]somewhere[/i]_, that it will have been done on your own volition. And you free us from any liability for anything you might or undoubtedly _[i]will[/i]_ do in the coming hours until all the alcoholic you have consumed has left your system. Do you—"

Sam grabbed her mother's arm; she pulled her down so that she could whisper in her ear.

- "Mention the car."

Alexis frowned until she realized that they had ridden in her car.

- "Oh! Damn it. Why the hell didn't we take her car? Sh!t… okay."

She resumed her position and demeanor.

- "Finally, you agree that any damage to this car incurred through projectile vomiting, foaming of the mouth, or drool resulting from a delayed reaction to your earlier binge or future drinking will be yours entirely. Do you—"

Sam pulled the woman to her again.

- "Add the bill."

Alexis nodded.

- "You further agree that any bill coming to our table for alcohol consumption this evening will be yours as well. Also—"

Before she could say or add anymore to the oral contract, Diane opened and stumbled out of the car. Even in her drunken stupor, she noticed a familiar car in the lot.

- "I agree to everything just as long as we can get our asses in there and sing our little asses off because it's karaoke night. I think you should sing _[i]Let's Get It On[/i]_, maybe you can get Mac's great balls on fire… well… only to rev up his engine for once… not… you _[i]know[/i]_… to give you gonorrhea or anything."

She hiccupped before opening the door to the bar.

- "I need a drink. Let's GO!"

Blowing up her bangs in frustration, Alexis glared at her daughter who had hurriedly followed Diane inside of the bar.

- "Coleman had better have some fresh and unsalty nuts in there."


	36. Tequila and Jack… In a Box

I suck, I know. However, I finally graduated from law school and am now studying for the Bar exam. This is the exam all future attorneys must take in order to be licensed. In other words, I'm glued to my desk and coffee table studying for hours on end until July 26 and 27 where 12 hours of my life will be dedicated to vomiting all that my brain has consumed over the past two months. As a way to get my mind off of the law before bed (I do NOT need to dream about Supreme Court justices or failing this exam), I write.

Finally finished this last week, but I wasn't going to post this until August when I resumed my fics again. However, I figured you all hate me enough for taking the better half of the century to update this fic anyway; so, I decided to be kind. **Will you be kind by hitting me up with some reviews of your thoughts?** **Also, let me know if you still even care about this fic.**

I cannot and will not promise you updates anytime in the near future, but I can tell you that I will be returning in August with this, along with LSC (my favorite baby. Truthfully, if you're not reading it, you're missing out. Yea, I'm a little biased, but seriously... you are).

That said, let's call this a** season finale** after a massively long wait. As one of my teachers way back in high school (2002) used to say, "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

UNEDITED.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

**Tequila and Jack… In a Box**

- "Oh… my… God."

Sam pulled the covers over her head. The room spun faster than she could tolerate.

- "I think I'm going to vomit."

Pulling the covers from her face, Jason lifted the garbage can that he had placed on her side of the bed before the woman had passed out the prior evening.

- "Try to aim in here… this time."

She blushed as the memory of vomiting in the middle of the bedroom floor returned to her. Her plan to get her mother some… action… had backfired; she had gotten drunker than she had been in a long time.

- "I'm so sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me—"

He sat on the edge of the bed beside her.

- "Five rounds of tequila shots, vodka redbull, and—"

Her stomach began to turn at the thought of all she had consumed.

- "_Why_ did you let me have all of that?"

He handed her the bottle of water and Tylenol he had placed on the nightstand.

- "Take these."

She attempted to sit up in the bed, but the act brought up the remainder of whatever she had not regurgitated throughout the night. Luckily Jason had excellent reflexes and instincts; the garbage can was at her face before she could soil yet another set of sheets.

- "And by the way, I didn't _let_ you have all of that. You actually kept ordering the shots, then taking the ones of anyone else wasn't taking—"

Grabbing his arm, Sam stared blankly at the man.

- "Stop. I think the thought that I pounded back so much is making the room spin faster. God—"

She pressed her head into his shoulder.

- "I was the designated driver! How the hell did this happen? And _where_ the hell is my mother?"

_**Flashback**_

_Seeing the various people sitting in the bar, Alexis realized that she had been ambushed… or at the very least led to one. Her daughter had not only set her up on another drunken mission with Mac by taking her to the scene of the original crime, but she had set it up for the entire town to be there. Or at least that was the way it appeared._

_- "What the hell, Samantha!"_

_Grabbing her daughter's arm, she pulled the woman into the closest private room; it was the bathroom._

_- "Were the videos not enough for you? Now you've got Mac and me here, along with Maxie, Spinelli, Jason… I'm pretty sure I saw Patrick and Robin sneak in as I pulled you in here—"_

_Sam shrugged nonchalantly. Coleman had agreed to shut down the bar early just for them; because of the way Mac and Alexis began their 'love affair,' he felt compelled to somewhat recreate the moment._

_- "I mean, it's not as though you don't know any of these people, Mom. Aaaand, might I add that it isn't like no one knows what's going on with you two… or what isn't going on. I mean, between Mac and Maxie, the whole town knows that you kinda hooked-up… minus the actual hooking because he can't—"_

_Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Alexis paced the room._

_- "You're determined to give me more gray hair than I'm ready to handle, aren't you?"_

_Sam shook her head in amusement._

_- "No. Come on! I'm trying to get you to… loosen up! Let your hair down. Get Mac to see the real you, and to perhaps show you the REAL him… you know… the one who's got it hard for you… no pun… maybe just a little… or a lot, depending on… you know."_

_Alexis glared in her direction._

_- "It isn't normal for a daughter to be THIS concerned with her mother's sex life, you know."_

_Walking toward the woman, Sam innocently smiled._

_- "I love you! That's why I'm concerned. You deserve to be happy and in a full and complete relationship… one with all the benefits. I mean, I'm also trying to save the environment here."_

_- "What?"_

_Sam winked._

_- "While I'm sure Duracel and Energizer appreciate the increase in their stock value because of you—"_

_Alexis' face reddened._

_- "Oh… my… God… you're truly… I don't even know what to call you… but you're… you're something."_

_Taking what was undoubtedly not meant to be a compliment as such, Sam laughed to herself._

_- "Thanks, Mom! Now let's just—"_

_She attempted to unbutton one of the buttons to the woman's top, but Alexis smacked her hand away._

_- "Will you stop? Goodness gracious!"_

_Sam shook her head._

_- "You're stifling the girls. You need to let them free… or at least let them get some air. How in the world do you expect Mac to—"_

_Someone pounded on the locked door._

_- "WILL YOU HURRY UP IN THERE? I CAN'T KEEP DRINKING IF I DON'T FIRST EMPTY THE TANK! ONCE I'VE STARTED, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO BREAK THE SEAL!"_

_As far as she was concerned, when it came to Diane, if needing to use the bathroom was her prerequisite to continue drinking, they could spend the remainder of the evening right where they were. However, that was not part of the plan. Poking her head out of the door without opening it entirely, Sam glared at the redhead._

_- "If you want to pee, do it outside or in the men's room. I'm sure you're very well familiarized with that room! PLUS, you weren't even supposed to be here.__ Sooo, go away, you lush; this room is occupied._"

_Before the woman could respond, Sam stuck her tongue out at her and shut the door. She then turned her attention back to her mother. _

_- "Now, where was I?"_

_Alexis pursed her lips as she continued to fix her shirt._

_- "Attempting to undress me to give Mac more time to work on getting… it... together."_

_Sam then began to run her hands through her mother's hair in an attempt to ensure its perfection._

_- "Exactly. You've got a secret weapon behind this… prison wall… you hide them in! You need to stop sheltering those puppies—"_

_Alexis looked up at the ceiling. If there had been one thing she would have loved that the younger woman had not inherited from her, it was her stubbornness. All three of her girls had seemed to partake in that portion of her gene pool._

_- "He's already seen them, Sam… on countless occasions, I might add—"_

_Sam made a face._

_- "And THAT didn't help? Good grief! Mom, I'm beginning to think maybe he's… I dunno… a eunuch. Maxie said it's been awhile since… you know… like longer than you—"_

_Alexis put her hand out to stop her daughter from continuing._

_- "Seriously, Sam? I assure that he isn't! Can we PLEASE get off of this subject?"_

_- "Sorry! Okay… I'll stop—"_

_Ensuring that her top was completely buttoned, Alexis nodded._

_- "Thank you. Now, can we get back to this… whatever you want to call it?"_

_And although she attempted to move to the door, Sam pulled her back to her._

_- "Wait! You need to first empty the tank. We wouldn't want you to lose precious moments winding your Jack-in-the-Box up because you were peeing every second."_

_Rather than continue arguing with her daughter, she rolled her eyes as she moved to the toilet._

_- "Fine. Turn around you perverted dwarf."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Placing a kiss on her forehead all the while keeping her vomit-smelling breath away from his vicinity, Jason took the garbage can and moved from the bed.

- "Don't worry about your Mom, Sam; someone drove her home."

She covered her face.

- "She's going to kill me."

- "I doubt it… she probably doesn't remember anything. You were all… you were pretty _wasted._"

Recalling the last time such a thing had occurred, Sam quickly grabbed her phone; she needed to see if the woman had called for a ride home.

- "Hey Babe? When you said someone drove her, do you mean drove her, drove her? Or _droooove _her?"

Standing in the bathroom where he had started the shower for her, Jason shook his head. He did not want to think about his girlfriend's mother in such a way.

- "You need to stop."

* * *

_Taking her mother's hand as they exited the bathroom, Sam felt a bit victorious; she had not only managed to get the woman to the bar, but she had convinced her to stay in spite of her obvious desire to leave. She was on a road of success._

_- "I swear to you, you won't regret this Mom."_

_But Alexis could see the cockiness in the younger woman. She would not allow her daughter to think that she had won this new level of tit for tat._

_- "I'm giving this one hour, Sam. Just one. I was at work all day, Molly—"_

_Sam stopped her._

_- "Molly's fine! Krissy's with her, she's got a ridiculous supply of tampons she can use, and not to mention, courtesy of your bookshelf, an endless supply of books she can read on her ever changing body. Just relaaaax!"_

_Without allowing the woman to stress the one hour time limit once again, flagging Mac over, Sam quickly walked away from her._

_- "It's nice to see you Mac!"_

_He shook his head as he watched the young woman drag her criminal boyfriend to the table to sit beside Maxie, her partner in crime._

_- "What did we do to deserve our kids, Lex?"_

_He gave her a kiss on the lips._

_- "I think that since we started dating, I probably have about 50% more gray hair than I did before. I blame it all on Maxie… and maybe a bit also on that one over there. She acts as though she's an innocent in all this, but I'm not convinced."_

_With his chin, he pointed to his niece. Patrick and Robin had in fact, as Alexis had suspected, snuck into the bar; while they had seen Maxie and Spinelli at a large table waiting for them, they decided to enjoy some private time in a separate corner. _

_- "They're all so—"_

_Turning to look at the table where Sam and Maxie sat with their beaus pretending not to look in their direction, Alexis finished his sentence with a shake of her head._

_- "Ridiculously invested in our relationship? Knowledgeable about every minute detail? Obsessed?"_

_Mac nodded. _

_- "All of the above. _

_Placing his hand onto the small of her back, he led her to a table far away from the nosey crowd._

_- "I suppose it's somewhat our faults—"_

_She scoffed._

_- "I'm not the gossip in this relationship here, Commissioner. For whatever reason, you seem to get your jollies telling Maxie—"_

_He shook his head._

_- "No! I have never… well, aside from the first time… told her about… you know. She… I don't know… she just knows. She comes over to the house the next morning after I've seen you, takes one look at me, and just… knows. It's weird."_

_Alexis covered her face. She could feel the eyes of the room on her; she was beginning to redden._

_- "And then she tells Sam who then bothers me at the most inconvenient times. Let me tell you something, if this is how my daughter, whom I didn't raise for nineteen years of her life, mind you, acts with me, can you even imagine what she would've been like had I had a chance to mold her into a not so spawnlike creature? There are no boundaries!"_

_He nodded in agreement._

_- "Until you catch your kid crushing Viagra to put into your drink—"_

_Alexis countered._

_- "She insists on taking me to get waxed—"_

_But Mac smiled._

_- "I guess I should thank her?"_

_She smacked his arm. He may have been as helpful as a dull needle in some respects, but he certainly made up for his hopefully temporary deficiency in other ways. Cherry pie was no longer as pleasurable as the day he… _

_- "Mac—"_

_Feeling flush, she found herself unbuttoning a single button of her top. The temperature in the room seemed to increase._

_- "So, I told her that I would give her an hour here. How about we sneak out a little bit before that?"_

_As he leaned forward to kiss her, however, Coleman approached with a tray holding four shots._

_- "Here you two go, courtesy of that lovely table over there: Cherry Bomb Shot. And here's a specially made one courtesy of… well, moi… just for you Mac Daddy: Hard Rock Jolly Rancher. Enjoy."_

* * *

In spite of her headache, Sam paced the room with the phone attached to her ear; she had been attempting to call her mother for the past hour to no avail. She had called the lake house, but there was no response. That fact did not surprise her given that her sister's had weekend activities. She called Mac, but the man did not answer; she was not sure if it was intentionally done or not. She called Maxie, but the young woman claimed that she had not seen the woman since the previous evening. Unfortunately for Sam, her memory was a bit hazy as to what had occurred during that time.

- "Mom—"

She decided to leave the woman another voicemail.

- "This is incredibly irresponsible of you! You do not just disappear like this! This is really—"

With her head feeling as though it would explode, she could not think of a word to get her point across.

- "Just call me back!"

She threw her phone onto the couch as she continued to move about the room. Her mother was an early riser; she should have been home already.

_**Flashback**_

_It had been 45 minutes since their arrival, but Sam had yet to see her mother make any indication of her desire to leave. She took it as a good sign given that from what she could tell, the woman was actually laughing and enjoying her time with the Commissioner. While Jason had stepped out to take a phone call, and Spinelli had found someone with whom he could engage in conversation about the cyberuniverse, Sam leaned into her best friend._

_- "Maxie, look at them! Do you think—"_

_Before she could finish her statement, the young blonde handed her two of the four shots Coleman had just placed onto their table._

_- "Take these."_

_From force of habit with regard to shots of her favorite liquor, Sam did as she was told. Unfortunately she quickly remembered that she should not have taken them; she was supposed to be the designated driver that evening._

_- "Shit! Maxie! I told you I couldn't drink!"_

_But the younger woman rolled her eyes as she pointed to her non-husband at the table with Patrick and Robin._

_- "Don't worry about it. Spinelli, Patrick, and Robin are all sober; one of them can drive your car back home."_

_She then grabbed her best friend by the arm._

_- "Now, come on! Let's go see if those two will be giving us a little brother or sister anytime soon."_

_- "Fine! But I'm going to warn you right now, that my mother was in a bit of a mood earlier, so don't say anything that'll piss her off."_

_Rolling her eyes, Maxie dragged Sam to their parents' table._

_- "Daddy, Alexis. What's... up? Having a good time here?"_

_She pulled a chair from an empty table so that she could sit next to her father._

_- "Remember not to drink too much, the goal here is to have—"_

_Alexis kicked her under the table causing the young woman to scream out in pain._

_- "WHAT THE HELL?"_

_But the intelligent attorney feigned ignorance._

_- "I'm sorry! I was trying to play footsie with your father. And I guess I confused your leg for—"_

_Shaking her head in irritation, Maxie rubbed her leg._

_- "Well if that's how you play footsie, Alexis, it's no wonder my Dad can't seem to—"_

_Mac cut his daughter off from continuing._

_- "ALRIGHT! New rule! There'll be no more conversation about me or my—"_

_Diane staggered toward the table._

_- "Nuts?"_

_She placed the bowl down before taking a seat onto Alexis' lap. She frowned at the perplexed look the four of them gave her._

_- "What? Sharing is caring. I swear that these are clean. Not to many hands have been all over them. Only mine… and they're safe. I swear. What are we talking about over here?"_

_Sam rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to her mother._

_- "Soooo—"_

_But pushing Diane from her lap, Alexis shook her head._

_- "So nothing, sweetheart. Since this table has suddenly gotten full, I'm going to go have a chat with Kate whom I see has just arrived."_

_Sam grabbed her mother's hand as she passed her._

_- "Um… if you're not going to drink, Mom, I think I'm rightfully going to!"_

_Without bothering to answer her, Alexis nonchalantly waved at her as she continued on to her destination leaving a very drunk Diane slumped over the table. _

_**End of Flashback**_

- "Jason, who'd you say drove her home?"

Walking toward the door, he shook his head.

- "I didn't say."

And having been sworn to secrecy as to her whereabouts, he walked out before Sam could further question him.

- "Jason!"

Not having a car at her disposal, and fighting a brutal hangover, Sam threw herself onto the couch in agitation. The impact caused her head to feel as though it might explode.

- "Damn it!"

* * *

_Walking over to Kate's table, Alexis felt a hand grab onto her own. She normally would have screamed out in shock, but the familiarity in the touch caused her to stop. She smiled when she looked at the owner._

_- "Mati? What are you doing here? I thought Coleman closed the bar to most people?"_

_Bringing over the man's usual, Coleman, upon hearing his name, answered for him._

_- "Come on, Lex! Monsieur Le Gros here, is a weekly patron of good ol' Jakes! Aren't you? I couldn't shut him out! He's FAMILY!"_

_Turning to see her daughter taking a shot of tequila, Alexis shook her head._

_- "Why am I not even surprised?"_

_Mati pointed to the empty chair in front of him._

_- "Have a seat, Alex. I actually come here every week with our daughter; it's how we get to know more about one another."_

_She smiled at him. Not much about him had changed over the course of the years; his face remained the same as that of the boy she once knew, and his gentle and charismatic touch still made her weak at the knees. Seeing him in the light of a father to their adult daughter was… sexy. _

_- "Oh… really? Is that where Sam runs off to after dropping the girls off, or after having dinner with us?"_

_He raised his glass to her._

_- "Guilty as charged."_

_Accepting the drink Coleman brought over to her, Alexis smiled at the man._

_- "I guess Sam isn't the only one getting to know something about you is she?"_

_He reached over to touch her hand._

_- "I suppose not."_

* * *

Hearing the sound of someone groaning after the slamming of a door in the hall, Sam shot up from the seat on her couch.

- "What the hell?"

The only other apartment on the floor had not been occupied in years; it was Sonny's old penthouse.

- "Who—"

She quickly opened the door to reveal the intruder_…_ or _intruders_ as she quickly realized when the other party also approached the elevator.

- "Oh, you have _GOT_ to be _kidding_ me right now!"


	37. Bottled Hearts

Bar Exam tomorrow… I was told to relax and be a vegetable… so… this is me being a vegetable. Wish me luck… I'm terrified out of my behind. This is the most important exam of my life.

SOOOO many thanks to those of you who left reviews for the last chapter… keep em coming with this one. Those of you who read LSC, you're hurting my feelings by not reviewing there as well. So please do so.

UNEDITED… not even reread… you'll tell me if it sucks. If it does, I'll make it up to you with the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

**Bottled Hearts**

She opened her eyes to feel the sun hitting her in the face. It felt strangely like a déjà vu as she awoke in a room that was not her own, and in a bed that was not familiar.

- "I really need to stop going to Jake's."

The only difference was that this time, she recalled with whom she had left that evening.

- "Hey—"

Actually, that was all she remembered. She spoke softly so that the sound of her own voice did not result in a larger headache than the one she already had.

- "Get up."

She leaned forward and playfully tickled him under the sheets.

- "Rise and shine—"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him.

- "You're a tease, you know that, right?"

She smiled widely at him as he began to kiss her neck. She moaned in excitement as she allowed his hands to wander.

- "Did you take advantage of me last night? Is that something I'm failing to remember?"

He rolled her onto her back so that he could be on top of her.

- "I don't know—"

He kissed her as he made his way downward.

- "What… do… you… remember?"

She gasped.

- "_That_!"

He looked up at her.

- "Well, let's see if we can refresh your memory, then."

Staring at the empty bottle of vodka sitting on the nightstand, along with the half-empty bottle of tequila on the table, she simply nodded.

- "Yeee…eeea… I'm… I'm good… with… that."

* * *

_After taking four more shots of tequila with Maxie and Diane while Mac looked on disapprovingly, Sam turned to notice that her father had arrived. She had not expected him. In fact, given the commotion of the day in taking care of her blooming sister, planning 'Project Hokey Pokey' with Maxie, and convincing her mother to partake in a fun-filled evening at the bar, she forgot to cancel with him for their weekly father-daughter Bar date._

_- "Eeee! Daddy!"_

_She squealed in delight as approached his table. Placing a kiss on his cheek, she threw her arms around him._

_- "I'm SO glad you're here!" _

_Mathieu smiled at his intoxicated daughter._

_- "I see that. How long have you been here?"_

_Answering for her, Alexis rolled her eyes._

_- "Not long enough. How much have you had to drink, Sam? I only left you like fifteen minutes ago."_

_Not realizing that her mother had spoken to her, Sam continued to converse with her father._

_- "I'm so sorry that I sorta ditched you tonight!" _

_- "It's okay, cherie—"_

_He watched as she quickly took the shot that Coleman had placed on the table for her mother; she threw it back before the woman could stop her._

_- "I had to help Mom—"_

_She turned to see her mother shaking her head at her._

_- "Hey! No judging! You said I could drink. And since you left me with that rum soaked sponge cake known as your best friend—"_

_Alexis pointed to the table Sam had just left; like her, Mac sat deer-eyed watching as both Maxie and Diane pounded back shots of their own._

_- "Yea, because yours is leading the Prohibition Society meetings in Queen of Angels' basement."_

_She slid her glass of water toward her drunken daughter._

_- "Before you regret this in the morning, I suggest you have some of this, Sam."_

_But taking a seat on her father's lap, Sam pouted and nonchalantly waved her hand._

_- "You know what you'll regret in the morning, Mom? Waking up nak—"_

_Blushing, Alexis quickly stood._

_- "Excuse us, Mati."_

_She pulled Sam by the arm and away from the man. She dragged her toward the bathroom. _

_- "Mommy, I don't neeeed to use the bathroom! I can't break the seal!" _

_She interrupted her._

_- "Have you lost your mind?"_

_Sam shook her head._

_- "No, remember I told you that if you use the bathroom before—"_

_Breathlessly, Alexis put her hand out to stop her from continuing._

_- "Oh my God… seriously, I'm going… I don't know what I'm going to do… you're… you're—"_

_Sitting on the toilet cover, Sam pressed her face into her hands._

_- "Are you going to wake up naked with Dad?"_

_- "WHAT?"_

_There was a knock at the door._

_- "Is everything okay? Alex? Do you—"_

_Alexis put her finger up to her daughter._

_- "Don't speak another word."_

_She moved to the door._

_- "No… I mean, yes… everything's okay, Mati! Sam's just… she's drunk. Why don't you go… I don't know… mingle. I'll talk to you later, okay?"_

_Without allowing him a chance to respond, she closed the door behind him. _

_- "Jesus Christ, Sam—"_

_But Sam disapprovingly stared at her._

_- "I mean, every time you come to Jake's, you end up waking up naked with a guy. It's not very… ladylike… or Cassadine-like for that matter. "_

_Letting out a frustrated scream, Alexis banged her head against the door._

_- "ONCE! That happened, ONCE!"_

_Moving from her seat towards the woman, Sam let out a sigh._

_- "Listen—"_

_She grabbed her mother's hands._

_- "I know that right now… the only pole…"_

_As Alexis attempted to speak, Sam focused her vision so that she could accurately place her finger over her lips._

_- "Shh…shhh."_

_Except her aim was off; her finger had instead landed on her mother's chin._

_- "Listen… if riding a pole is what you want, Mom, I will make it happen! I mean, I tried to get you into Mac's orbit…"_

_She frowned._

_- "Or is it him into your orbit? I guess that would make more sense, right? He's the rocket… I mean, with a broken engine…"_

_She smiled at her mother._

_- "We're trying to fix that, Mom! We'll get you on his pole! And… and if that doesn't work… if that doesn't work, I will buy you that stripper pole—"_

_Alexis had attempted to zone out most of what Sam had said, but she found the task to be difficult when the woman would not stop discussing poles, orbits, and rockets._

_- "I don't need you to buy me a stripper pole, Sam!"_

_- "Fine! I will buy you a drink instead! And then you can try and uncork… ya know…"_

* * *

He attempted to pull her back to him before she made it to the door, but she squirmed from his grasp.

- "I have to goooo! I don't want Sam to realize—"

He kissed the nape of her neck.

- "Come on! She wanted this, didn't she?"

She buttoned his open shirt.

- "I know that, but if she finds out… you know… where… _here_… she's… she's going to FREAK out. And honestly, I don't want to deal with that. I already missed countless phone calls from her."

He kissed her lips before moving back to the bed to put his shoes on.

- "You know, it's probably for the best to keep her guessing… you know, the element of surprise."

Alexis ran her hands through her hair before crossing her arms against her chest.

- "Have you met my daughter? The element of surprise will be the element of my death. Come on, I need to pick her up."

Grabbing his jacket, he followed her to the door.

- "Should we clean this place up first?"

She shook her head.

- "Mac, after last night, definitely not. We'll let Coleman figure this out."

* * *

_Walking out of the bathroom with her mother for the second time in one night, Sam spotted her boyfriend uncomfortably reenter the bar; the social scene had never been his thing._

_- "JASON!"_

_Yanking her arm free from Alexis' grasp, ran toward the man._

_- "Where have you been?"_

_He knew that he had left her unattended… with Maxie… for far too long._

_- "I was on a phone call. Um… how much have you had to drink?"_

_She realized that she had forgotten about her mother and the drink that she had promised her. _

_- "Come on! I'll buy you a drink… tequila!"_

_He winced at the high-pitched way in which she had managed to pronounce the second syllable._

_- "Wow, okay."_

_And as Sam dragged him to the bar where Alexis had already begun to take the shots that Coleman had placed before her, Maxie pushed Mac toward the woman. _

_- "Um… how about I take you home, Sam? You're a little… you're… you're drunk."_

_In response, she threw her car keys at an unsuspecting Coleman._

_- "Hey toots! If you're going to be throwing things at me, I'd prefer them to be lacey… or attached to your body… the top half."_

_Alexis glared at the man._

_- "Hey! That's my daughter you're talking to."_

_Pouring her another drink, he smiled._

_- "I don't discriminate foxy mama! I'll take whatever you're giving away… especially since there isn't much going on at the sausage factory… if you know what I mean."_

_Maxie shoved her father into the bar stool next to Alexis._

_- "Coleman, something potent… something blue over here please!"_

_Both Mac and Alexis stared at one another; they needed to leave before the bar's patrons undressed them and coached them on how to… do the deed._

_- "Maxie, I'm not sure if you know much about the male anatomy—"_

_She shook her head._

_- "Oh, I know plenty, Daddy. I've been learning since—"_

_Sam quickly used her best friend's proximity to kick her leg before she revealed more about herself than her father would have cared to know._

_- "Maxie!"_

_But the save was not appreciated._

_- "Okay, that was the SECOND time tonight that I've been kicked! Is this some kind of Davis girl thing? Like, 'Hi, nice to see you,' and then you kick people? If so, I'm sorry, but your Cassadine genes are definitely dormant. This is NOT how civilized people greet one another!"_

_- "I'm trying to help you out here! You should be a bit more grateful, you know. Now, let's give these two… love birds, or whatever, some time alone. You know, performance anxi—"_

_Seeing both her mother and Mac glare in her direction, Sam stopped speaking. She simply smiled, and allowed Jason to take her to a private table far from where the couple sat._

_- "I'm really sorry about this, Mac. I don't know—"_

_He stopped her._

_- "It's okay. Look, if you want to… I don't know, call this off… then—"_

_She placed her hand over his. She knew that Coleman was listening to their conversation, but at that point, it did not seem to matter; the entire town seemed to know of their issues._

_- "If I wanted to call this off, I would've done so a long time ago. I've been with a lot of men—"_

_Coleman began to cough._

_- "Excuse me—"_

_Alexis let out a sigh as she grabbed the bottle from his hands._

_- "This has just turned into self-service—"_

_- "You're telling me!"_

_She pointed to the other side of the bar._

_- "GO OVER THERE, COLEMAN!"_

_She turned her attention back to Mac who attempted to act as though his ego was not shrinking by the minute._

_- "Why don't we get outta here?"_

_He looked about the room._

_- "Where? And how do you expect us to get out of here? There's a neon arrow flying above us."_

_She shrugged._

_- "They'll just think we've gone off to try—"_

_Seeing him blush, she stopped._

_- "Seriously Mac, it doesn't matter. As I was saying before, I've been with a lot of guys who didn't exactly treat me the way I should've been treated. I'll take a hundred sex-less nights with you, than one night with them."_

_She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips._

_- "You're one of the good guys, Commissioner. I'm going to hold onto you… and one day, when you're ready, I'll get to play with your fun police toys."_

_Grabbing the bottle she had taken from Coleman, she hopped off the barstool, approached the table at which Sam and Jason sat, tapped the man on the shoulder, whispered something into his ear, kissed her oblivious daughter on the top of her head, and flagged to Mac to join her outside._

_- "Hey!"_

_Coleman attempted to grab Mac as he passed him._

_- "She didn't pay for that bottle!"_

_Rather than hand him any cash to cover the amount of drinks that had been consumed that night, Mac patted the man's cheek, took yet another bottle, and a set of keys hanging on a numbered hook._

_- "Thanks buddy."_

* * *

She threw her arms over his buff, manly body. It kept her warm at night. It got her hot and bothered all day… it…

- "What the hell?"

It was smaller than what she had remembered. She knew that she had been in a drunken stupor throughout most of the previous evening, but she had not been so drunk as to not recall that her stallion, or prized bull, as she preferred to call him recently, had shrunk… significantly in size.

- "_Max?_ What in the—"

She pulled the sheets back to reveal…

- "OH… MY… _GOD!_"

Realizing that she too was undressed, as was her habit in sleeping, she wrapped the blankets around herself before jumping from the bed.

- "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

As the man rolled over from his stomach onto his back, Diane's eyes widened at the sight before her. For the first time in as long as she could recall she was speechless.

- "Oh—"

The breeze from the open window sent chills over the man causing him to awaken.

- "_Merde._"

Sitting up in the bed, he wiped his eyes. His head was pounding, the sun was shining, and the sheets on the bed had…

- "Oh—"

He finally turned his head to realize that he was not alone in the room; Diane, glued in her spot at the foot of the bed, stood agape at the sight of _him_.

- "What… are… you—"

Much to the redhead's displeasure, he grabbed a pillow, immediately stood and covered himself.

- "Is… uh… is your name truly Le Gros? Or was that a nickname? Because lemme tell you, it… is certainly is an understatement."

Mathieu reddened at the woman's continuous southern stare.

- "Er… how—"

Before he could finish his statement, Diane shook her head.

- "All I know is that this is a _very_ unfunny déjà vu!"

- "This has happened—"

She sat down on the bed.

- "_God _no… at least not with someone I barely know! I'm not that kind of person! This has happened to _Alexis_—"

Keeping the pillow against him, he kept his back to the wall as he moved toward his clothes; they were neatly folded on top of the dresser. Looking about the room, he noticed that Diane's clothing had been hung. The situation was curious… to say the least.

- "She's woken up with—"

She rubbed her temples in order to ease her pounding headache.

- "_Mac_. That's how their whole escapade started. And for some reason, the same has happened with us. _Shit. _What the hell happened last night?"

He handed her her clothing.

- "Do you normally hang your clothes before… you know? And… er… do you know _where_ we are?"

She looked about the room. She had not the slightest idea.

- "My best guess: the stables. You know, other than the fact that I sleep completely in the _nude, _even on the coldest day of winter – one can never be to prepared, if you catch my drift – I don't think we have much to worry about here, Mathieu."

Before he could respond, she pointed to the pillow.

- "I have plenty of experience bullriding… especially as of late. _HOWEVER_, if I had ridden in the Kentucky Derby, I think I'd know. I'm walking entirely too normally to have _saddled up_ with you last night. No sir… I'm sure of that."

Letting out a sigh of relief; he was not exactly his type; he could not have imagined, even in a drunken stupor, sleeping with the inebriated attorney. He interrupted her.

- "Alright, I… uh… I will let you get dressed. I think I should look around; maybe something will help me remember _how_ I… _we_… got here."

Covering her face as the sound of his accented voice aggravated her headache, she waved him out of the room.

- "Yea, yea. Whatever, _Secretariat_."

Walking down the apartment steps to what he presumed was the front door, he smiled; it was a nice apartment. While he liked his hotel just fine, he would not mind a place such as that.

- "Ok… let's see—"

He exited the apartment, and approached the elevator. From the apartment across the way, he heard a woman groan in what appeared to be annoyance.

- "Hmm… ouais…"

He could relate.

- "Ok, let's get outta—"

Still buttoning her shirt, Diane's mouth dropped as she exited the apartment and realized where they were.

- "Oh, you have GOT to be _kidding_ me right now!"

And no sooner had she spoken had Sam appeared and the elevator door opened to reveal Alexis.

- "Oh… wow."

Sam looked from her father, to Diane, then to her mother.

- "Do I _EVEN_ want to know what's going on here?"

At the sight of her best friend and ex… whatever… Alexis' hangover returned. She was not sure how she felt about the sight before her.

- "Yea, I'm… uh…"

She shook her head as she walked past the… _couple_… and moved toward the penthouse Sam had just exited. Her heart… _hurt._

* * *

_**Keep me in your thoughts and prayers for this exam tomorrow... it's a bit of a big deal.**  
_


	38. The Patriot

Oops on the wait. If you're still interested, please leave a review.

Not even reread, therefore not remotely edited.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

**The Patriot**

- "Oh, for Christ's sake!"

Diane attempted to push passed her so that she could reassure Alexis that she had not had any dealings with Mathieu, but Sam quickly grabbed the woman by the arm.

- "Oh, I don't think so."

- "Sam!"

She shook her head in disgust.

- "Of all people for you to fu—"

Mathieu stepped forward.

- "Samantha!"

However, Sam took a step backward; she was in no mood. There were certain lines that friends, or friends of her mother, simply did not cross; sleeping with your best friend's daughter's father was one of them.

- "Like seriously, Diane! Weren't you lushing it up in my car last night about how sore you are because Max has been riding you like a Merry-Go-Round? Weren't you the one saying how you don't have any other holes or crevices Max can slip through? How you're beginning to feel like some kind of Slip N' Slide—"

Turning an unflattering shade of red, Diane interrupted the irate woman.

- "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Yea, I'm sure you don't, much like you haven't the slightest clue how you ended up on Mati's bean stalk—"

When Mati attempted to step forward, Diane placed her hand onto his chest. When she realized that her mind began to wander, she quickly began to play with her hair.

- "Look Sam, as of this morning, although I know your father as well as Eve knew Adam—"

Sam covered her ears.

- "You know what? After the morning I've had, I do _not_ need to hear this—"

However, Diane pulled her hands away.

- "Listen here, you little garden gnome, you're the one throwing a fit over this! So you're gonna have to stand here and listen to what I have to say! "

She relented.

- "FINE! Make it quick."

Diane looked down at the man's pants before continuing.

- "He was a mere lump on a log—"

She could not help the smile that formed across her lips.

- "A mighty large, protruding and—"

Mati let out a groan of annoyance.

- "Samantha—"

However, yanking her wrist from the woman's hold, Sam let out a sigh of exasperation. Of all people about whom the drunken ginger to gloat, her decision to do so concerning Mati was… _disgusting_.

- "Ok, I know I joke about my mom and all, but that's something _entirely_ different. When it comes to my father, I do _NOT_ need to know, have an idea, or the image burned into my brain of what he's working with… in his _pants_, Diane!"

Pursing her lips, the redhead ignored her.

- "I assure you that there'll be no Cain _or_ Abel emerging from my—"

Mathieu grimaced as he listened to the woman speak. Recalling bits and pieces from the previous evening, any doubt he had had that Diane might have been lying to him concerning the mysterious way in which they had landed in bed together was quickly quelled; there was no way he could have had relations with her.

- "Samantha, Diane and I have not… you know. We might have been drunk, and well, we woke up undressed, but—"

As the _couple_ continued to speak about their drunken night, Sam felt her headache quickly returning.

- "Wow. I'm just… this is a _whole_ lot of… wow—"

She needed to sit down… _somewhere_ far away from the two people in front of her. She would have gone inside the apartment, but her mother's predictable pacing of the room would have caused her to lose her breakfast… whatever that had been.

- "This is really a lot more information I needed to learn about a man I've only known for about a month. This is just… like… _overload_."

Leaning against the wall, she slid onto the floor.

- "I think I'm going to be sick."

- "Cherie—"

He knelt by her side.

- "Ca va?"

She looked up at the man in confusion.

- "I'm fine… _okay_? I just… while I don't exactly _want_ to know about… _last night, BUT, _I _need_ to know how in the world you two found yourselves… _there_—"

She pointed to the penthouse Sonny had once occupied.

- "How the hell did you two end up in there and _clearly_—"

She gagged as she made air quotes.

- "'Undressed.'"

With her arms crossed against her chest, a finally emerged Alexis stood at the apartment's entrance.

- "Yea, that's a really good question. I'd like to hear the answer to that as well."

_**Flashback**_

_Watching Alexis walk out of Jake's with a man unfitting for her, Mathieu flagged Coleman over to his table._

_- "What can I get for you, Monsieur? Another beer? A glass of wine—"_

_The thought of what Mac was doing to the mother of his daughter left a nasty taste in his mouth._

_- "Cognac… straight."_

_Coleman raised his eyebrows in amusement. He appreciated the expensive taste of his new favorite European patron._

_- "You got it! Shall I start a—"_

_Unaware that the man had begun to question him, Mathieu held his credit card out for him to take._

_- "Keep them coming."_

_And seeing the gleam of the plastic in the light, Diane casually – in her best ability given her drunken state – strolled over to the French patriot's table._

_- "Why hello there, Monsieur Le Gros."_

_Hoping to catch a glimmer of truth to his name, she looked him up and down._

_- "Voulez-vous—"_

_She stopped. That was the extent of her French without appearing crude._

_- "A little company?"_

_There were two people with whom he would have liked to share company; unfortunately, both were preoccupied with their mates._

_- "I suppose. What are you drinking?"_

_She looked down at her glass._

_- "Liquor."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Sam stared deer-eyed at the woman.

- "_THAT'S _what you remember? HOW is that _ANY_ different than normal, Diane?"

Before the woman could respond, Alexis looked to Mathieu.

- "And what about you? Why were you drinking so heavily? I've never known you to be such a… a… _fish_."

Turning the tables on the woman he had once known like the back of her hand, he smirked.

- "Well, I suppose you do not know me as well as you once had, Alex."

From the moment she had fallen upon them, he saw the jealousy in her eyes at the thought that he had been with Diane. It was clear that the _relationship_ she had with Mac was not as sturdy as she would have liked to portray. A woman could tolerate a dry spell for only so long.

- "Like you, I'm not the same person I once was as a teen under his parents' control."

* * *

With a smile on his face, and a whistle on his lips, he entered his house. He was finally beginning to feel a change in his relationship with Alexis. Although they had yet to _do the deed_, he nevertheless felt a stronger connection with her the previous evening and that morning than he had since they had begun to date. He was… _happy._

- "Daddy! What are you doing here?"

Until he noticed his daughter lying on the couch with a wet cloth on her forehead.

- "Um, I live here. What are _you_ doing here? And—"

He peaked into the trashcan placed beside where she lied.

- "Clearly hungover. Do I even want to know how much you had to drink last night?"

She accepted her father's kiss on her forehead.

- "Maybe not. Why'd you leave like that? We came together and you—"

- "My little cherry pop—"

Noticing that Mac had returned, Spinelli, holding a homemade remedy he had created for his _non-wife,_ froze in his spot.

- "Um, this is a little… _awkward_—"

Turning to glare in the direction of her daughter's _'non-husband,' _the commissioner's face reddened at the sight of the man dressed in nothing but his favorite apron.

- "WHAT THE HELL!"

Maxie grabbed her father's hand.

- "Daddy, _please! _ Can't you see I'm in _pain_ here?"

But he yanked it free from her grasped.

- "You want to explain to me why _he's _here—"

- "This was the closest place from the bar where I could vomit. And since Spinelli's a great non-husband, he decided to take care of me! You should be grateful he didn't leave me alone especially since you left me so Alexis could play Whack-a-Mole or whatever with your blink and you missed—"

As the man had not moved from his spot, Mac continued to glare in his direction.

- "WHERE are your PANTS?"

Unsure of how to respond, Spinelli nervously blinked at his _father-in-law_.

- "Um… well… Courageous Chief of—"

Maxie rolled her eyes as she responded for the man; her father did not care for the nicknames her _husband_ had picked out for… _anyone_.

- "I threw up on them."

Mac squeezed his eyes shut as he rubbed his temples. He wanted terribly to physically remove the unworthy man from his home, but given his lack of clothing, he decided it best to control his temper.

- "And why exactly doesn't he have any boxers—"

Maxie bit her lip.

- "Um, I may have thrown up on those, too. And before you say anything else, Daddy, I would've given him a pair of your boxers, but I figured you wouldn't have appreciated that."

As he moved to sit in his favorite chair, he noticed the constipated look on the nervous young man's face turn into one of anxiety; he was certain a large bullet of sweat had rolled down his brow.

- "Yea—"

He decided instead to stand.

- "This is so much better. I think I would've preferred you have done that than had him walking around my house—"

He pointed to the man.

- "Like _that!_"

The hungover woman covered her face as her head neared explosion.

- "Daddy! Please, just lower your voice!"

Under normal circumstances, he would have felt badly for her and the obvious pain she was in; however, given the sight of Spinelli still frozen in his spot, his blood continued to boil. His daughters had a poor habit of choosing the most unworthy men as husbands and non-husbands.

- "I hope you know that you're paying to get my chairs cleaned _AND_ recovered. "

- "Fine."

And when she merely nodded and placed her head back onto the pillow as she waved Spinelli back into the kitchen, Mac knew the young woman had truly not been well.

- "So you're not going to ask about my date with Alexis?"

She covered her head with the pillow as her mind replayed the events of the previous evening.

_**Flashback**_

_- "Cooooooleman—" She sloppily tiptoed over to the bar where she saw the man preparing drinks for one of the three tables he was serving. "What are you doing?"_

_He held up the bottle of cognac along with the glass in which the contents of the bottle was to be poured._

_- "Well, it's a Friday night, and I'm a bartender, pretty lady." He filled the glass. "And one of my customers happens to have deep pockets and a taste for the expensive stuff."_

_Turning around, she noticed her best friend's father downing, while seated with Diane, a glass of what she could only assume was cognac. For the first time, she found him likeable; he was nowhere near Alexis._

_- "OH! That's awesome, Coleman. Uuuum…" a lightbulb flashed in her mind. "How about you pour us another round of tequila, huh?"_

_Coleman eyed her suspiciously._

_- "Let me first bring—"_

_She stopped him._

_- "No! I'll do that!"_

_But given her clear journey toward intoxication, he shook his head._

_- "As turned on as I find a pretty blonde who can hold her liquor, I'm going to pass, darlin'. Now, I'll be right—"_

_- "NO! Wait! Just… um… you can't leave a lady waiting for her drink, Coleman! I'm sure Mathieu would agree with me on that! He's French! They have manners."_

_Coleman eyed her for a moment before relenting._

_- "You talk men to death don't you?"_

_- "What?" She frowned._

_- "Every woman has a superpower so that she can get her way. Some withhold sex for abnormal periods of time. Others give the silent treatment. And then there are the ones who shriek and talk a man's ear off until he passes out from blood loss." He took a sip from the beer he had under the bar. "That last one… that's you."_

_And before she could… shriek… he gathered eight shot glasses of which he was certain four would be taken by her, and the other four would be Sam's._

_- "And since I don't want to be shut down for unhygienic whatever, I'm gonna just give you what you want." He reached for the top shelf. "Coleman, he likes to please the ladies."_

_Filling the glasses, he carried the tray to the table at which Sam was slumped over on Jason's shoulder, and Spinelli stared… in his constipated fashion… in Maxie's direction as she quickly took advantage of Coleman's abandonment of the drink he had prepared for Mathieu._

_- "Thanks so much, Coleman!" She innocently smiled at him as she stumbled back to her seat. "You're quite the gentleman."_

_**End of Flashback**_

- "Believe it or not, Daddy, I have bigger concerns than hearing about how you couldn't get it up for the…"She once again rolled her eyes. "Goddess Mother."

He lifted the pillow so that he could look at her. Her lack of enthusiasm for his evening was unnerving. She never tired of finding ways to help his love life with Alexis.

- "Are you okay, honey? What's wrong?"

And finally sitting up, she covered her face.

- "I think I did something _REALLY_ bad… like _really… really_… bad."

* * *

Walking back into the apartment, Sam threw herself back onto the couch before bringing the trashcan closer.

- "This is just too much. I couldn't handle the one parent before, now I've got _two… _both of whom are running around having sex with—"

Alexis rolled her eyes as she pushed Sam's legs from the chair so that she could sit.

- "I don't know about your father, but you already know that I'm not going around sleeping with anyone."

- "That's right," she rested her legs onto her mother's lap, "you can't exactly sleep around when the man you're supposed to be pledging your allegiance can't even get his flag to fly at half mast, let alone full—"

At Mathieu's entrance, Alexis playfully smacked the younger woman's leg.

- "_ANYWAY_, onto more important matters—"

Taking the hint, Sam looked over to her father.

- "So, did your love kitten leave?"

He cut his eyes at her.

- "Is it now my turn for this banter you have with your mother, Samantha?"

Alexis shrugged.

- "Better you than me, Mati." She looked from her daughter to the man. "I mean, it's about time. She's given you a month of her best behavior. It's time for you to realize what claiming this one as your own actually means!"

Sam kicked the woman's leg.

- "Will you stop? Dad, have a seat."

She turned her attention back to her father.

- "Diane? Of _all_ people, Dad? You never did answer why you were drinking so heavily, and _God_, with a person who consumes more liquor in a day than… I don't know… Mom?" Using her foot, she gently nudged the woman. "Give me something to insult that ginger you call a best friend. I'm too hungover come up with anything witty."

But Alexis shook her head; she did not want to think about Diane or whatever it was she and Mathieu had done the previous evening.

- "You know what? Let's not talk about that, okay?" She smiled in Mathieu's direction. "I didn't have a chance to thank you for the way you handled the situation with Molly yesterday. Sam told me… albeit in the most inconvenient of ways…"

Sam interrupted the woman.

- "She was asleep in the tub _and_ calling me… well" she made air quotes, "'the _teenaged' _me a pervert—"

- "About what happened—" Pinching Sam's thigh, Alexis spoke over her. "And I appreciate how you handled the situation."

Mathieu marveled at the women's relationship. While he was happy with the way in which his own relationship with Sam was forming, he could not help but feel slightly envious of the time the two women had already shared with one another. It was time he would never have with his daughter. It was a side of the woman he would never know.

- "It is not a problem, Alex. To be honest, I really did not do anything. It was Samantha and Kristina who took care of her. I simply acted as though I did not notice anything."

She patted her daughter's legs.

- "Yea well, like I said, I appreciate that you did that, Mati. It's not exactly something that's… I don't know, _everyday_ in your life. I have _three_ girls… I deal with this, but you—"

- "Alex! It is fine." He wished he could reach her and touch her. "I am a doctor. I have seen a lot of things."

Alexis ran her hands through her hair. She was not used to having an active hand in her children's lives; her children's fathers were not exactly a daily part of their lives. Having Mathieu around was something she needed to get used to.

- "I don't think Molly even realized that you're the one who noticed her… um—" she faltered in her words; it was not something she ever discussed with the opposite sex. "Her… _you know_."

- "Good grief, Mom!" Sam rolled her eyes, "It's called her period. It's just Dad here; you can say the word. It's not like we're asking you to say _'penis' _or anything like that." She turned her attention back to her father. "It's like pulling teeth for her to say penis and vagina."

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose. Even with a hangover, Sam managed to be a pain in her… behind.

- "What normal person needs to have those words in their _everyday_ vocabulary, Sam? And goodness, I'm sure Mati has better things he'd like to discuss than…" she still could not say the words. "_That."_

Sam amusingly shook her head at her mother's stuffy behavior. In spite of their ten year relationship, she had not been able to shake off every leaf from the woman's straight-laced tree.

- "This is a woman you claim was a daredevil or whatever when she was a teen? Because, I gotta tell ya, this one," she sat up so she could more easily poke her mother in the side, "this one's quite the prude."

- "Cherie, people change as they get older. I suppose Alex was a bit more reserved," he grinned like a Cheshire Cat at the woman he had once intended to marry.

- "Mati—" she pointed a finger in his direction. "Please do not give this fool any ammunition to use against me. She already makes my life a living hell every chance she gets."

Biting her nail, Sam batted her lashes at her father.

- "She lies, Dad. Besides, this is just practice for when the true spawns get older. She thinks Kristina and Molly are innocent and sweet—"

- "No, I _know_ Molly is… for now. Kristina, on the other hand, she's already been corrupted by _your_ crazy influence." Standing up from her seat, she placed a kiss onto the top of her daughter's head. "Speaking of those two, we need to get going before they notice that I didn't make it home—"

Sam let out an audible gasp.

- "I _KNEW _it!"

Alexis' face burned of crimson as she realized that she had inadvertently and openly admitted that she had spent the night with Mac.

- "Damn it." She nervously laughed in Mathieu's direction before pulling Sam to a standing position. "Not a word."

- "Mom—" She amusingly looked at the woman.

However with Mathieu staring in her direction, she pulled Sam closer.

- "Remember, I've got years of embarrassing tales to share with your father. I could get him caught up in no time on Samantha of age nineteen all the up to the present."

Noticing the women's usual game of '_Gotcha,'_ Mathieu moved to their side.

- "After the way I woke up last night, I do not believe I have room to judge you, Alex. However, I do need a ride to my car, if you do not mind. It is at the bar."

And before she could respond, Sam's cell vibrated on the coffee table.

- "I bet that's Jason. I'm going to have to yell at him for letting me worry about where you were. He should've just told me that you were trying to ride Jack's beanstalk."

Alexis glared at the woman.

- "Sam!"

But Sam's attention was no longer on her mother as she looked over the message she had just received from Maxie. _"You wouldn't happen to know where your Dad is, would you?"_

- "Did something happen between you and Maxie last night, Dad?"

He rubbed his forehead. The night might have been blurry, but he was quite certain that to the extent of his '_relations_' with Diane, he had not had such a thing with the hyper blonde.

_**Flashback**_

_- "Oh Mati!"_

_She shrieked as she approached the glass-filled table at which he and Diane continued to sit._

_- "How was your… cognac?"_

_Looking up at the woman, he was certain he saw two of her standing side-by-side. It was clear that he needed to stop drinking._

_- "I suppose it was ok. Where is—" He remembered that he had had a fellow patron with him. "Where is Diane? Has she left?"_

_Maxie giggled hysterically as she pulled by the hair the inebriated attorney from the booth._

_- "Whatever she's been drinking, it's obviously killed her pain reflexes, or whatever they're called. How doesn't she feel this?"_

_He waved his hand to the younger woman so that she might release his companion._

_- "She will in the morning."_

_- "I guess you're right." Dropping the woman, Maxie watched as an unconscious Diane sloppily rolled from the booth onto the floor just at his feet. "Um, I hope she doesn't like… poke her eye out or something."_

_And noticing that his daughter's best friend winked at him before walking away, Mathieu bent forward to stare at whatever it was that had caused the girl's comment._

_- "Putain!" He cursed under his breath as he failed to realize the cause of his predicament. "Merde."_

_As though, even in her unconsciousness, a magnet, Diane's hand immediately reached for his French flag at full mast awaiting the appropriate moment to wave to the tune of La Marseillaise._

_**End of Flashback**_

- "No. I don't remember anything." After waking up with Diane in the bed with him, he wanted to block out the entire evening. "Did she say something? Does she know what happened between Diane and me?"

Sam shrugged as she retook her seat on the couch. _"Yea, he's here with me…. Why?"_

- "I don't know what's up with her."

Alexis took her keys from her bag.

- "What isn't wrong with that one?" She playfully played with her daughter's ponytail. "Um, you're going home with me, right? Your car is still there."

Her phone once again buzzed. _"Oh… um… no reason!" _Sam's suspicions immediately increased; Maxie's guilt was written all over her texts.

- "Mom—" She took the keys from her mother's hands. "I'll be back."

Alexis attempted to stop her daughter, but the younger woman proved to be too fast.

- "Where are you going?" She called after her. "And how am I supposed to get home, Sam!"

And no sooner than Sam had slammed the door shut behind her did Diane casually stroll back into the apartment.

- "Looks like I don't have a car either."

She had also left her car at the lake house.

* * *

**Let me know if there's any interest in this.**


	39. Confessions

Many thanks to Batel, Demon, Londyn, and Harpon for expressing a desire for the story to continue. Others, thank you for reading, but please take a moment of your time to review. There are 31 of you who have this on alert, I'd like to hear from you. Good, Bad, Ugly, I don't care. Just share your thoughts.

With continued interest, I will try my best to remain motivated to write and finish this.

Not even reread and certainly not edited.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

**Confessions**

- "So, what are we going to do while we wait for that drama queen of yours?" Diane called out to the… _couple_… as she searched the liquor cabinets for a drink. "I really wasn't planning on staying here very long since, I like to shower after—"

Alexis turned from the door from which she hoped her daughter would miraculously re-enter to her best friend.

- "Don't you think you've had enough to drink to last you at the _very_ least a month, Diane?" Noticing that the woman had found a bottle of wine, Alexis quickly grabbed it from her hands. "And excuse me while I gag on hearing about how you like to _shower_ after waking up naked next to a man you _barely_ know… well, except for the fact that he fathered with your _BEST FRIEND _a child who lives to torment her mother!"

- "Alex—" Mathieu moved to her side. "It's okay. Samantha will be back shortly."

But putting the bottle onto the dining table, Alexis thought perhaps taking a cab home would be far more conducive to the return of her own hangover than remaining in the same apartment with the… _couple_.

- "You know what?" She began to pace the room. "No… why don't _you_ leave, Diane—"

Or she could have saved her money seeing as her daughter had her car anyway.

- "Take a cab home… or to Max." She snapped her fingers. "You remember him, right? He's your _boyfriend!_ The one you ride like a damn billy goat—"

Grabbing the bottle of wine before Alexis could stop her, Diane rolled her eyes.

- "Oh come now, Alexis! Who the hell rides a billy goat?" Like an expert, she quickly uncorked the bottle. "If you're going to insult me, the least you could do is be a little bit witty about it!"

Mathieu held the side of his face as he watched the woman pour herself a drink.

- "It is ten o'clock in the morning, Diane—"

She stared at him as though he had several heads. Although, given the head she had scene earlier that morning, he would have done well sharing some of his wealth.

- "Where are you from again, Mathieu?" She pointed her glass at him.

- "France." He responded in almost a questioning manner as he recalled her previous evening's sad attempts at conversing with him in the language.

And taking a large gulp of the contents of her glass, she smiled widely.

- "Well, since this is a Cabernet which _clearly_ hails from your land, it's _four_ o'clock in the AFTERNOON! And this, my non-Napoleon complexed friend," she looked down at his pants, "is a cure to _my _hangover."

Moving to the far end of the dining table, she protectively held the bottle to herself.

- "Haven't you ever heard of drinking the hangover away?" She took another sip. "That's what I'm doing."

- "But then you will only become intoxicated again." In watching the woman in action as she hoarded the bottle of wine to herself, Mathieu found himself further perplexed as to how he had ended up in bed with her. "It is a cycle. And your liver—"

Diane rolled her eyes.

- "Sir, my liver is made of the same material that my flask is." She moved to the sideboard to grab him a glass. "Besides, this is how I get my daily portion of fruit. As a doctor, you know very well that we need a balanced meal." Holding out the filled glass, she smiled. "Here's your first serving of fruit, my friend."

Mathieu reluctantly accepted it.

- "Er… Thank you?"

She nonchalantly waved her hand as she looked over to a clearly annoyed Alexis.

- "Hey cranky pants," she called out to her best friend. "Would you like me to start you off with a serving of dairy courtesy of a white Russian?"

And watching as Mathieu took a sip from the glass in his hands, Alexis threw her hands up in annoyance.

- "Mathieu, seriously? Weren't you just telling her it's ten o'clock in the morning?"

He slowly nodded in the same guilty fashion attributable to their daughter.

- "Well, it is not in my nature to allow wine to go to waste." He coyly smiled at the woman. "I'm French, Alex."

She was not amused. It was clear to her that he was attempting to flirt. Despite how much he now insisted that he had changed since their teenage years, she still saw in him, that charismatic teen with whom she had… fallen in love.

- "Well, if you plan on joining her and reenacting last night's festivities for me, I suggest you put that glass down." She thought about the videos she had scene on her date with Mac the previous evening. "I would actually prefer to be traumatized by watching Pinocchio have at it with a fairy—"

Diane disapprovingly shook her head.

- "That's just inappropriate Alexis! This isn't Texas or anything, it's legal here to—"

Alexis glared at the woman.

- "I WAS TALKING ABOUT AN ACTUAL FAIRY!" She grabbed a bottle of water before moving to the couch. "I swear, you're going to be the death of me!"

Watching as she threw herself onto the couch, Mathieu was slightly amused; Alexis was jealous of what had occurred between Diane and him. Perhaps he had a chance after all.

- "Alex, s'il te plait!" Ensuring to leave the glass of wine at the table, he sat down beside her. "Nothing happened—"

Feeling his arm wrap around her, Alexis resisted the urge to lay her head onto his shoulder like she had done many times before in their teenaged years. Instead, she shifted toward the edge of the couch.

- "Mati, I don't care if anything happened between you two." She lied.

- "You're lying!" Diane called out to her.

Mathieu hoped that in spite of the redhead's long road to intoxication, there was truth in her words. He _felt_ it in his heart that somewhere in this woman who now called herself Alexis, Alexandra and her love for him continued to exist.

- "Are you?" He did not care that she was supposedly dating Mac. His only concern was with what they had, or continued to have. "T'es jalouse?" He asked if she was jealous.

Alexis hated being put on the spot. She needed to have a moment to herself so that she could think.

- "Why would I be?" She corrected herself. "Why _should_ I be? We're not together anymore, Mati. It's been _thirty_ years!"

Without either party noticing, Diane had managed to tiptoe over to where they sat. Leaning over the back of the couch, she looked her best friend over.

- "Right now, you're greener than a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day, Alexis." She ran her hand over the woman's cheek. "Right about now, you're singing to yourself _How Deep is Your Love_. And you—" She looked over to Mathieu whose face wore the signs of a hopeful man. "You're singing the _original_ version of those dastardly BeeGees' song, _How Deep is Your Throat_—"

Alexis had almost found herself lost in her thoughts of whether or not she truly was jealous until the woman's final statement.

- "Oh my God, Diane!" Without excusing herself from Mathieu's company, Alexis grabbed the redhead by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. "What the hell is wrong with you? I know you've started drinking, but we all know that it takes more than a couple of glasses or a bottle to get you drunk!"

Diane pursed her lips as she stared at the woman she had known for over a decade. Alexis was great at being elusive with those who did not know her well, however with those on the other side of her social circle, she was as clear as glass.

- "Oh please. Look at how you stormed out of the hall when you found out that Mathieu and I spent the night together—"

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose as she took in a deep breath.

- "I thought nothing happened?"

- "I thought you didn't care?" Diane countered. "If it doesn't matter so much, why the hell are you concerned if I played stick ball with the very well endowed—"

Raising a brow toward the woman, Alexis pointed let out a sigh.

- "I _don't_ care, Diane!" If she repeated it enough times, perhaps then it would be true. "I'm just… there's a _code_ among friends that you don't—"

Diane rolled her eyes as she completed her sentence.

- "Sleep with your best friend's ex, I know! Your teacup daughter already went through this with me." Before Alexis could stop her, she held her hand out so that she could continue. "Look, after what I saw this morning, if I had taken a ride on _that_ disco stick, I would've remembered. I mean, aside from walking like a gimp for the rest of my days," she looked Alexis up and down, "that explains _a lot_ about you, by the way—"

- "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Finding a lone banana in a bowl filled with oranges, Diane smiled.

- "It means that that man left his mark on you in more ways than that not-so-orange Snooki you shot out of your hoo-ha—"

Alexis covered her face.

- "Gee, thank you. You're… you're a real treat, Di."

The redhead wrapped her arm around her.

- "Listen, you owe it to not only yourself, but to those two men, to figure out what the hell you want, Alexis! I've no doubts that Mac is a great guy. He's sweet, you've known him for years, and well, he's not bad to look at. Buuuuut," she handed her the banana, "there's that little problem—"

There was no denying that Mac's problem was also _her_ problem.

- "Sex doesn't define a relationship—"

Diane scoffed at the notion.

- "Surely you jest, Alexis! Even the bible tells you to go forth and multiply—"

Alexis handed her back the banana.

- "I'm not having anymore kids—"

And slowly unpeeling the fruit, Diane smiled.

- "Well, find something else to multiply." She thought to herself as she took a bite. "I don't know, create new sex positions or something." She swallowed. "You can't exactly do that with," she then waved the limp banana peel at the woman, "you know."

Alexis made a face.

- "God, you're vile."

Diane snickered as she stuffed the remainder of the banana in her mouth.

- "A man can have but so many nervous… _flops_… before you _**A**_, realize that your carbon footprint is bigger than his…" she cleared her throat as she once again waved the banana peel in Alexis' face, "_natural_ state."

Smacking Diane's hand away from her face, Alexis moved to the kitchen's island.

- "Both Sam and you have made comments about my battery usage—"

Throwing the banana peel into the garbage, Diane took a seat at the island where Alexis stood.

- "And then, my very best friend, there's _**B**_; you realize that _maybe_, just maybe, he's really not that into you," she sympathetically smiled at the woman, "but instead the _idea_of you, Alexis."

She hid her face in her hands. The truth was standing in front of her face. The problem was that she was too blind to see it.

* * *

Sam slammed her mother's car door shut as she stormed up to the man's front door.

- "MAXIE!"

She rang the doorbell enough times to not only aggravate her best friend's inevitable headache, but to announce her arrival.

- "I know you're in there!" She pounded on the door. "Open the door!"

As she made to use the doorknocker, the door flung open to reveal her mother's… _beau._

- "Mac, hi." She attempted to smile politely at the man about whom she knew more than she had ever cared to know. "Maxie wouldn't happen to still be here, would she?"

Stepping aside, Mac flagged the young woman into his home.

- "I think you already made it clear to the neighborhood that you're aware she is." He pointed to the living room. "She's in there—"

- "Thanks."

As she moved toward the room, he grabbed her by the arm.

- "Um… if I were you, I wouldn't sit on _anything_," he lowered his voice, "Spinelli—"

That was all she needed to hear.

- "Count yourself lucky you don't live with them, Mac." She shuddered. "The things I've heard _and _seen—"

He quickly covered his ears.

- "You know what? I'm going to pass on that information."

Sam smiled sympathetically at the man as she entered the room where her best friend lied in the fetal position on the couch as though she were dying.

- "Hey Maxie!" Knowing that the woman was hungover, Sam ensured to speak as loudly as she could. "How's it going? Huh? We went a bit overboard last night, didn't we?"

With the realization of what she had done weighing on her mind, Maxie attempted to hide under the blankets and her pillow.

- "Yea, I guess you could say that." She winced with each word spoken.

- "I know! I threw up I don't even know how many times last night, Maxie!" She sat on the couch next to where the woman lied. "Poor Jason, he was left cleaning up after my messy aim!"

The blonde continued to groan.

- "Seriously, I don't want to hear about that, Sam!"

But Sam was not done with her.

- "You know what was even funnier?" She yanked the blanket off of the blonde before grabbing the pillow. "When I was calling around looking for my mother—" From the corner of her eye she noticed Mac enter the room. "Hey Mac, were you the one to give my mom a _ride_ home?"

He did not know how to answer her question. As far as he knew, Alexis had pushed him out of Jake's in order to pick her up since her car had been left at the lake house. From what he noticed, Sam had driven Alexis' car to his house. Therefore…

- "Um…" he scratched the side of his face as he uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other. "Well—"

Given the look on his face, Sam mischievously smiled.

- "Oh, guess not—"

_Therefore_, she was being, as Alexis said, _herself_.

- "No one was getting a ride _anywhere_ last night—" Sam winked at the man.

However, Mac was ready to counter her wit.

- "Well, she didn't exactly have her feet on the ground—"

- "DADDY!" Maxie's face turned visibly green. "My _God_, I don't want to know this! Not after the night I've had!"

Before Mac could respond, Sam quickly spoke up.

- "You know, since you were so concerned with where my Dad was this morning, would you happen to know where I found him, Maxie? _OOOOOR_ who he was found with?"

- "Hmm… I have _no_ idea, Sam." Maxie feigned ignorant. "I mean, I was with _you_ for most of the night. Don't you remember?"

Sam shook her head.

- "No… no, I don't—"

The hungover young woman attempted to sit up without the world spinning around her.

- "Yea, yea, Sam. We took all those shots together… and then, um… we like… we took _more _shots… and Jason," she looked up at the ceiling as she attempted to capture the woman's boyfriend's demeanor, "he… he… _stared_… and… um… _blinked_… disapprovingly."

Sam scratched her neck as she slowly nodded.

- "You know, I _remember_ that!" She lied.

- "You do?" She cleared her throat. "Yea, of course you do! We were totally like… glued to each other. I'm pretty sure we used the bathroom together too. Jason," she playfully punched Sam's arm, "he was… he was totally turned on."

Considering the obvious exaggeration in his daughter's explanation of the previous evening's festivities, Mac's curiosity was now peaked as to what she had to do with Mathieu.

- "Wow. In all the years I've known Jason, I don't think I've ever seen him show any type of emotion, honey." He sat on the arm of the couch. "Wow, and what exactly did Mathieu have to say about his daughter being incredibly… _trashed_?"

Sam nodded in agreement.

- "Yea, what _did_ my Dad have to say? You spoke to him, right?"

And finding herself to take the pressure of both her best friend and father interrogating her in her diminished state, Maxie let out a heavy sigh.

- "You… you can't get mad at me," she looked from Sam to Mac, "I did this for you especially, Daddy. I… I just didn't think it completely through… you can't blame me though! I was _REALLY _really drunk, and well… um… you LEFT me, Daddy! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run off to play nursing baby on Alexis' milk jugs!"

Sam grimaced at the image.

- "Let's not talk about my mother's… _jugs_, please." She shuddered. "The only milk they're producing is curdled and probably useful for GH's supply of penicillin or something." She quickly pointed a finger at Mac. "And don't go telling her that! We all know you have foot-in-mouth disease like your daughter here. As far as you're concerned, my mother's boobs are the best thing since donuts."

Mac held his hands up.

- "They are, Sam! Your mother has beautiful—"

Maxie gagged in disgust.

- "Can you two _please _stop!" She covered her mouth. "You're making me sick here!"

_**Flashback**_

_Approximately thirty minutes after Coleman disappeared in the back with Kate, and Robin and Patrick snuck out as quietly as they had entered, Maxie thought it best to check on the 'happy couple' she had manufactured for the evening._

_- "Hey Mathieu! Diane!" She attempted to sound casual. "How's it going?"_

_The suave Frenchman smiled at the intoxicated blonde who had gone from twins to triplets since the last time he had seen her._

_- "I am… well—" He could not find the words to explain how he felt. He wanted to point to the area that gave him the most confusion, but he did not want to scare the young woman. "Er… Samantha can't—"_

_Maxie turned to the table. As she had been when she first stopped by to check on the man, Sam was slumped over on Jason. It seemed that the umpteenth round of shots had finally done her in._

_- "Oh, um… she's… well, she went to sleep." She found her mouth watering the longer she stood and allowed the world to spin around her; her stomach threatened to reject all that she had consumed. "Um… I'm gonna sit."_

_And as she aimed for the booth, she realized that her aim was off; she hit the floor._

_- "That… that wasn't exactly where I was—" her seat on the floor, however, led her to a discovery. "Um… Diane?" She took her shoe off so that she could poke at the woman. "What… what are you doing?"_

_Although her memory of what had occurred a mere five minutes earlier appeared to have disappeared, any attempt at recalling where the woman had been the first time she had arrived at the table would have been for naught._

_- "I… I don't think you should—" she stopped. She became fascinated with the sight that had held the redhead's attention. "Wow… I… I feel like that's just… it's unnatural… but GO Alexis!" She looked up at the man who had since passed out. "Although now I'm confused how something that big could create something as small as Sam." _

_Jason, as one of the two remaining sober persons in the bar, kept an eye on the surroundings. When he noticed Maxie land on the floor and stay there, he tapped Spinelli._

_- "You might want to go—" he pointed toward the man's non-wife, "go find out what's going on over there."_

_Spinelli quickly got to his feet as he ran to help the woman._

_- "My little sun flower! You have withered onto the floor. Perhaps some hydration would help restore you to your beauty."_

_Maxie waved at the man to join her._

_- "Spinelli, look—"_

_As the man knelt beside her and followed the direction of her finger, his face paled._

_- "Um… Brusque Lady of Justice, I do not think it appropriate for thy unshielded eye to fall upon…" he swallowed hard, "well, Fair Samantha's—" he scratched the side of his head. "Um… what… why…"_

_Maxie covered her face in shame._

_- "I… I might have given him…" she pulled out the bottle of pills she kept in her jacket pocket._

_Spinelli gasped._

_- "False apothecary!" He took the bottle from her hands. "Maximista, why would you—"_

_- "What's going on here?" Jason approached the couple. "Spinelli, why are you leaving her on the—" His eyes narrowed in on the bottle in the man's hands. "Do I even want to know what that is, and whether or not it's connected to why you two—" _

_As Diane attempted to move from the floor, she smacked her head underneath the table._

_- "Son of a bitch." She slurred loudly._

_The exclamation caught Jason's attention. Before Spinelli could stop him, Jason bent to see the cause of the sound. His eyes widened._

_- "What—" Knowing the situation had Maxie written all over it rather than pervert, he grabbed the bottle from Spinelli's hands. "Please tell me you didn't drug this man."_

_Maxie bit her lip._

_- "What if I told you it was—"_

_Jason shook his head._

_- "Don't say another word."_

_**End of Flashback**_

- "And well, that's all I remember—"

Spinelli poked his head out from the kitchen.

- "Fair Samantha, Stone Cold was so kind as to carry to the car and then transport to Mr. Sir's former abode the Brusque Lady of Justice and the Well-Endowed Monsieur—"

So as to be as far from his daughter as possible, Mac paced the room.

- "WILL YOU GET OUT OF HERE!" On a normal day he hated Spinelli's nicknames; given the cause of Mathieu's name, he found the names all the more irritating.

Sam, on the other hand, was at a loss as to her feelings. While she wanted to strangle her best friend, she also wanted to laugh; this had been perhaps the most outrageous thing the young woman had ever done.

- "So wait, let me get this straight, you… you _drugged_ my father." She stared in disbelief at Maxie. "Um… you're going to have to excuse me for a second, but… um… _why _exactly would you do that?"

Mac stopped pacing as though his continued movement would obstruct his ability to hear his daughter's explanation.

- "That's a great question, Sam." He too turned his attention to the young woman. "It's one thing to try to sneak Viagra into _my_ meals and drinks, but I'm going to need a little help figuring out your logic in doing such a thing to _Mathieu._" His disdain for the man was clear in the way his name rolled off his tongue.

Maxie felt like a young child being scolded.

- "I saw the way he was looking at Alexis all night, and well since he's been in town." She stared at her father.

- "So you manufactured for him a full fledged _hard on_ large enough to leave _Diane_ speechless." Sam cocked her head to the side as she stared incredulously at her. "Yea, if my mother had come back from wherever the hell Mac took her," she looked at the man, "and where in the world was that anyway?"

Mac's face reddened.

- "To one of the rooms above Jake's."

- "Wow." Sam furrowed her brow. "Um, okay then. I mean… um… _alright_." She turned her attention back to Maxie. "Please, continue your explanation of why giving my father a bone when my mother was just upstairs would've helped Mac's situation."

Maxie mustered her best apologetic and sympathetic face she could as she looked at her father.

- "Daddy, I didn't want him to have a chance to steal her from you—"

- "What is this, first grade?" Sam scoffed at the woman's explanation. "My mother is a one-man woman, Maxie. She's chosen to date your dad; she's happy with him. My dad isn't a threat to their _relationship, _or whatever it is they have with one another—"

But unlike her best friend and father, Maxie had an eye for relationships and chemistry; with every moment Alexis and Mathieu spent with one another, sparks flew.

- "Not to hurt you or anything Daddy, but have you noticed that you're not exactly whipping Alexis or _anything_ back and—"

Sam shook her head in disagreement.

- "Sadly, I think that's the problem, Maxie. He's able to whip, he just can't…" She could not think of a witty comment to counter the statement. "Let's just say if this were a game of darts, Mac wouldn't be able to hit any part of the target. He'd just bounce off the wall and land sloppily on the floor."

- "Mac's standing in the room, you know." His impotence had become so much a part of the group's everyday conversation, he had become used to it. "Look, it's not that I don't want to… you know… with your mother, Sam… it's just… I don't know…" But he did know; he simply did not know how to explain it to the women. "I don't want to become so invested in this relationship only to find out—"

Sam finally understood.

- "That my mother actually wants my dad." She smiled sympathetically at the man. "You're falling in love with her, aren't you?"

* * *

Walking out of the kitchen, Diane grabbed her bag from the chair before making her way to the door.

- "My big and manly Max is downstairs; he'll take me to my car." She winked at Alexis. "I'll leave you two to your privacy."

Alexis glared at the woman.

- "We don't _need_ privacy, Diane!" But she was grateful to see her leave. "Do me a favor and don't ring my doorbell so that you can further traumatize my baby, please."

- "Alexis, please! I have much to teach young Molly—"

That was the problem.

- "Don't." Alexis shook her head. "Get your car and leave. Even if you see them, do not impart your wisdom on them."

And with a roll of her eyes, the redhead opened the door.

- "Fine! It's their loss." She exited.

With a bit of a flushed face, Alexis slowly approached where Mathieu sat.

- "So, last night was a bit more than any of us expected, wasn't it?" She nervously smiled in the way that caused both of her dimples to be well defined. "Kinda wild, huh?"

He could not help but return a smile to her. Despite the amount of times in she had claimed she had changed from the time they were kids, he still saw her, his Alexandra. The only difference, however, was that time and experience had matured her and made her far more confident than the dejected teen he had once known.

- "It was very shocking to wake up with Diane," he laughed. "It was not in my plans when I went to Jake's last night—"

- "What _was_ in your plans?" She was not sure what she wanted to hear from his response. The question had simply come out of her mouth.

- "Honestly?" He wished that he had a romantic response to give her, but he did not. "I went to meet Samantha—"

Alexis recalled that explanation.

- "That's right! You two like to get to know one another in a bar." She shook her head. "What's wrong with dinner and drinks?"

He stuck out his bottom lip and shrugged.

- "From what I know, Alex, she comes from dinner with you before she has drinks with me." He tapped her knee. "Besides, it's relaxing at Jake's. She can be herself, and we are not rushed out—"

- "That's because Coleman wants to milk you for every penny you're worth."

Having come to learn of the bartender's ways, he nodded.

- "Pas de question." He covered her hand with his own. "You did a wonderful job with that daughter of ours, Alex. She's wonderful—"

Although she would have loved to take all the credit for the woman Sam had become, she could not. Most of the credit rested with her daughter herself.

- "As much as I like to joke and say that I was the one who made her into who she is today, I'm not Mati." She thought of the insecure young woman who had cried in her arms that she was nothing without Jason; there was so much pain that lived in her tiny body. The self-destructive gene that was intertwined between nature and nurture threatened to suffocate her baby on more than one occasion, but it did not. In spite of their ups and downs, and the loss of her relationships throughout the years, Sam had picked herself up and decided she needed to change. Alexis was beyond proud of the woman her daughter had become. "She's been to hell and back on more than one occasion. She's been taken to levels that still make me shudder at times. She's done things—" She stopped. "She's _incredible_, Mati—"

With every word Alexis spoke, he could feel the love and pride she felt for their daughter. He envied it because he knew it came from a time and place he had not lived with them.

- "I know—"

And she recognized that fact. While he would undoubtedly love their daughter, he would never understand her the way she had.

- "We haven't always had the best relationship. We've had quite the bit of baggage thrown at our feet, but I'm proud of where we are." She ran her fingers through her hair. "She makes me want to strangle her… _daily_. And she can make me _furious_ in a way that no one else can, but my goodness, I often forget that I didn't have her for so long."

She gave his hand a squeeze.

- "I promise you, Mati, you're going to get that relationship with her. You're going to experience the wonderful Sam, the pain in the ass, the one that terrifies you half to death, and even the one that threatens to, or even _does_ break your heart." She reached for a pen; she needed something to fidget with. "When you experience all of that, and you _will_, then you'll fully _know_ her."

He could have listened to her speak about their daughter all day and all night; it was what they had dreamt about as teenagers. He fell in love with her with every word uttered.

- "And what about you?" He spoke to her in French. "When will I know you… _Alexis_?"

She wanted to believe he meant as friends, but in her heart, she knew he meant otherwise.

- "I'm with Mac, Mati." She scooted away from him. "You know that."

That meant nothing to him.

- "I do, but—" He cleared his throat before continuing. "I saw the way you reacted when you saw Diane and me—"

She focused more intently on the pen in her hand.

- "I mean, how would you have liked me to react to seeing my best friend with the father of my daughter who also happened to be my very first love?" She stared at him. "If it had been anyone else, I assure you I wouldn't have had the same reaction, Mati."

He was not convinced.

- "If I had returned to your life before you decided to give Mac a chance, would you have made this same decision? Would you have made me your friend, and him your boyfriend?"

Thinking of the dreams she continuously had of a life they could have had raising their daughter, as well as Kristina and Molly, Alexis did not have an answer to his question. She did not know.

- "What difference does it make? That's not the way it played out, Mati."

It made all the difference in the world.

- "Are you in love with him?"

- "I… I love him very much—" She knew there was a vast difference in what she had said and what he had asked. Once again, she did not have an answer to give him. "He might not be the person I happen to share a child with, Mati, but he's seen me through _a lot_, even when we weren't really friends. He's—"

Mathieu could not take it anymore. Taking the pen from her hands, he wanted her to focus on him and what he needed to finally say.

- "Do you… _are_ you in love with me?"

She felt tears well into her eyes. This was not the way it was supposed to be. She had not returned to the dating world to have her world flipped upside down as her past love threatened what very well could have been a long-lasting future love.

- "Mati—"

He knew she had not attempted to sort out the feelings she had for him; however, he could not stop.

- "Regardless of what you call yourself or who you claim to be now, I have never stopped loving you." And although he hesitated to continue, he knew she would not fully understand until he said the words. "I love you, _Alexis_."

He held her face in his hands.

- "I have _always_ loved you… I always will."

He placed a gentle kiss onto her lips.

_- "Pour toujours._"

* * *

**Alright, Team Mati or Team Mac? What say you?**


	40. Wedding Dresses and Lingerie

**Has it been nearly a year? Well, if you're still reading this, I'm going to need a FINAL show of hands as to what team you're on. Next chapter will be the last. Clearly my world of fanfiction is no longer. Many thanks to the reviewers for inspiring me. It's for you I'm trying to finish this.**

**Not really edited.**

**Chapter Forty**

**Wedding Dresses and Lingerie**

_Staring at herself in the mirror, she could not believe that she had been put into such a situation… it was not her. In truth, it probably never would be. The fact that she was standing where she was, was to say the very least, absurd._

_- "Really, I don't know what the point of all this is," she called out as she turned around so that she could see the back of the dress her daughter had all but forced her into; it was white… too white. "This is just—"_

_- "Perfect!" Sam smiled as she stepped into the dressing room with yet another dress. However, upon seeing the woman, she quickly cast it aside. "You look amazing! If you get this dress, I assure you Slip and Slide, Twister, Whack-A—"_

_- "Will you stop?!" Alexis cut her eyes in her daughter's direction. She felt as though the room had gotten approximately twenty degrees hotter since the young woman entered with yet another dress for her to try. "First, you manage to ruin perfectly innocent children's movies—"_

_- "They were hardly innocent." Sam mumbled under her breath as she unzipped the back of her mother's dress. She could already see the beads of sweat forming along the woman's forehead. "I think you should probably get out of this thing before you have an anxiety attack. You should really consider therapy for your issues."_

_After her first attempt to make it down the aisle had gone bust as she had, in a very pregnant state, made a mad dash to the nearest exit nearly knocking over her… well… Helena… in the process, she had vowed to herself that she would never make such an error again. However, forced several months later by her father (whom she had then believed to be her uncle) to give her then 'bastard' infant a proper home lest he give the child away to some far-off orphanage, she made a second trip, albeit to his dismay and in a form of protest, in blue jeans and a t-shirt, down the aisle… of the justice of the peace… toward the man she had then believed to be the love of her life. And yet, there she stood, twenty-nine years later, divorced after fifteen years of marriage in… a wedding gown. _

_- "I need therapy?! Surely you jest," she shook her head as she quickly stepped out of the confining gown and handed it to the younger woman. "You're the one who sexualizes every single word, thought, sentence, phrase—"_

_- "Movie," Sam finished her sentence. "I'm telling you, Mom, you need to pay closer attention to those Disney cartoons. And games! You cannot tell me that the makers of those games you bought us as kids didn't have just a teeeeeensy bit of fun naming them. Seriously, they're not as innocent as—"_

_- "They're innocent to CHILDREN, Sam! And now," Alexis cut her daughter off before the woman could manage to come up with yet another filthy metaphor to add to her colorful speech. "Now I've had to purge the house of all of your sisters' old movies. Should I move onto the family games? You know how much your dad loves Hungry Hungry Hippos. Should I be worried that all of our years of marriage were a lie because he secretly wanted to stuff massive amounts of balls in his mouth?"_

_- "You did get divorced," she winked as she nonchalantly opened the dressing room door for the awaiting assistant. "Is there something you want to tell me about Daddy? I can handle it… I promise."_

_Still dressing, Alexis quickly grabbed her shirt from the hanger; she held it in front of herself._

_- "Honey, seriously?" She glared at her daughter. _

_When her mother's face turned beet red, Sam realized her error; the woman was self-conscious. _

_- "Oh… oops! Sorry!" She handed the dress to the awaiting assistant who hurriedly departed at seeing the woman's discomfort. "You really need to relax a bit. I think any woman would be grateful for a body like yours when they get to your age, Mom." She paused for a moment. "Um… could this fear of allowing the world to see you in any state of undress—" _

_- "See, there lies the problem," she spoke over her daughter. "Tthe world' doesn't need to see me undressed."_

_Ignoring her, Sam continued her statement._

_- "—perhaps be the reason why you and Mac can't… you know—"_

_Alexis shook her head._

_- "NO!" She exclaimed. "My goodness, he's ONE person!"_

_- "No, that's not the reason, or no, he hasn't even seen you in your birthday suit which, now that I think about it, would undoubtedly cause his little friend to blow out like a… um, what are they called? One of those party favors that blow out when you… well, when you blow into them." Attempting to recall the name of the item, she scratched the side of her face. "Well, I guess the point is we… rather YOU… you wouldn't want his… little friend… to roll into itself in .25 seconds… or in any seconds… because that's just… weird."_

_Alexis stared in shock at the way in which the young woman rambled on about the most inappropriate topic. It was not like anything she had ever seen… from anyone._

_- "I really need to convince your father that if we can't have you committed, we need to get you into some form of aggressive therapy—"_

_- "I had a session last night," Sam smiled coyly. "Oh, and this morning as well. Thank you Dr. Morgan. You know, now that you mention it, I might have to have another one this afternoon because—"_

_- "Okay! That's enough!" Alexis grabbed her purse after ensuring to smack her daughter in the back of the head. "You're a significant thorn in my side—"_

_Sam quickly followed the woman out of the dressing room._

_- "Yea, well since you brought him up, I know Daddy would like once again to be a thorn in your—"_

_Before Alexis could respond, however, the saleswoman approached her with a smile clearly reserved for the women she attempted to con into wearing one of those ridiculous gowns she had just been forced into trying on._

_- "Ma'am, have you found—"_

_Alexis held her hand up in annoyance._

_- "I'm too young to be a ma'am, honey. I mean, technically I could be your mother given the fact that you're probably the same age as this one over here, but I spawned her when I was only sixteen. And while I don't recommend—"_

_Sam watched as the woman's face fell. She was clearly not accustomed to the ramblings attributed to the Davis-LeGros women._

_- "Mom," she poked her mother in the side, "relax; she was just being friendly."_

_With an embarrassed laugh, Alexis nervously ran her hands through her hair._

_- "I apologize for that," she smiled. "It's just—"_

_- "You're nervous!" The saleswoman knowingly exclaimed. "I've seen so many brides come in here just ready to throw up because they're just anxious about their big day!"_

_While nudging Alexis with her elbow, Sam excitedly nodded at the woman._

_- "Exactly—" she looked at her nametag, "Patricia! I was just telling my mother that the last dress she tried on is going to ensure a great wedding night! I mean, break out the swings, whips, and—"_

_Alexis felt her face turn every shade of red._

_- "Please ignore my daughter. She's not quite… well, she's clinically and certifiably insane." She gave Sam a squeeze. "Her father and I had her examined when she was fifteen. She's crazy! And I don't mean One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest crazy… although that lobotomy is looking like a better idea with each day that passes—"_

_- "Mom!" Sam attempted to move from her mother's tightened grip. "I think Patricia here is probably thinking that you're the crazy one here." She turned her attention to the woman. "And don't believe her. I'm not in the least bit crazy. I'm just passionate—"_

_- "About my sex life." She released Sam long enough to take a step toward Patricia. "I mean, did you know there are a whole slew of Disney movies just turned into porn? Because I didn't. AND there are subliminal messages in these movies, not the porn, but the regular movies that I showed my girls when they were younger, concerning sex? Now that I think about it, that probably explains this ones many issues."_

_Sam rolled her eyes._

_- "You're scaring her! I mean, would you like to tell her whhhhyyyy I've gone through such extremes?"_

_It was Patricia's turn to nervously laugh at the exchange. With each passing second, she looked toward the door in the hopes that some other customer might enter._

_- "Oh, that's okay! I'm sure you had a really good reason!" But she also knew she needed to help her customers if she wanted a commission on whatever it was they had decided to purchase. "Um… so, about this wedding—"_

_Alexis nodded._

_- "Yea, about that. Do you remember when I told you my daughter was certifiable?"_

_- "Yea, it was right before you talked to me about porn."_

_Alexis playfully pointed at her._

_- "Exactly! Well, like the porn, this trip wasn't exactly wanted… or needed." She pulled Sam back into her side. "I'm not even engaged!"_

_Patricia rubbed the side of her face. She could not believe that she had just wasted the last five minutes of her life talking to a mother and daughter who were probably both certifiable and perhaps being fitted for their very own cuckoo clocks._

_- "Wow… do you… do you even have a guy… like, who would want to marry you?" Her question came out a bit more rudely than she had intended. "Sorry. I just mean… do you have a man that you would want to marry?"_

_- "She doesn't want to be married, Patty." Sam spoke up for her mother._

_The response, however, caused the poor saleswoman to squeeze the bridge of her nose._

_- "Okay? Um… well, I'd ask why you're even in here, but I guess I already have my answer… you're crazy." She backed away toward the counter. "Please tell me that you at least have a boyfriend… or something."_

_And with that, Alexis slowly held up two fingers before realizing that the men had both appeared in the shop. One dressed in a tuxedo, while the other wore old jeans and a sweatshirt as he held out a plate of cherry pie for her to take. She was in shock._

_- "Oh dear God…" she covered her face, "this is turning into a nightmare."_

_But Sam did not appear to notice. Instead, she cleared her throat and responded to the woman's question._

_- "Believe it or not, Patty, there are two worms ready and willing to fall into my mom's mouth... if you know what I mean." _

_Covering her reddened face, Patricia groaned. _

_- "Yea, I'm pretty sure I know what you mean."_

_Alexis winced as the tuxedoed man began to gyrate his hips while the other stuck his tongue into the pie's center hole. She reddened at their blatant intentions for her._

_- "I think I'm going crazy… I have to be. This is like… like… a safari… animal kingdom, and no one but me realizes it." She crossed one arm against her chest, as she covered her mouth in an attempt to figure out what was going on that no one but her noticed. "This is turning into a 'quien es mas macho' contest to the extreme. I need to get out of here."_

_But with a smile, Sam wrapped her arms around her. It appeared that she finally noticed the two men… although, she did __**not**__appear remotely perturbed by wild their antics._

_- "Well, one happens to be my dad, her ex-husband, father to her three children, and perhaps love of her life, who wants to remarry her and reclaim the passionate love they once had." Sam informed the saleswoman. "And the other… well, we're not quite sure if his worm is even alive, but he's a fighter that one! I believe he's got other tricks to keep this little lady satisfied," she paused for a moment. "I guess you can say she's stuck between a rock and a not so hard place."_

Hearing her daughter's voice in the background, Alexis immediately covered her face as she slipped further underneath her blankets.

- "The funny thing about dreams… or nightmares… is that you're a pervert in them regardless of who raised you." She felt the bed sink as Sam sat down beside where she lied. "The sad part is that I can't tell in which part of my life, my dream or reality, you're the bigger pain in my ass—"

Sam peaked underneath the blankets at the woman.

- "Well, if you're talking about pains in your ass, I'm sure if you ask Diane, she'll tell you that Mati—"

Alexis shrieked in irritation at the variation in which her dream Sam and the one before her had managed to filthy her description of their… her… whatever… place in her life.

- "Since your father's come back into our lives, I never have to wonder what our lives would have been like if I had raised you."

- "Well, from your little dreams about him, not only would you have had me, but you would have also had those other two twirps with him." Sam smiled. "We would have been one happy little family."

Alexis slipped from underneath the covers and out of the bed. It was easy to think of what-ifs when it came to what could have been with a man she had planned her life with at the tender age of fifteen. She had had no one _but_ him, and well, her brother Stefan; it was easy to get lost in a fantasy of what they had spoken about every single night they had spent with one another.

- "That, and you would've turned out exactly the same, minus the con artist past," she smiled as she tapped the petite woman's cheek. "I mean, my _God_, Sam, you're… you're… I don't even know what you are! You're just… _wow_."

Sam followed her from the room and into the kitchen.

- "That's what Jason says after we've… you know," she playfully smacked her mother's arm. "_Speechless."_

Alexis glared in her direction. Much as her dream self preferred not to hear about her daughter's sexual relationship with the mob enforcer, her actual feelings were quite mutual.

- "Please stop." Without thinking, she grabbed a package of sausage from the refrigerator. However, upon Sam's audible snickering, she immediately put it back. "You make me sick, you know that?"

- "So noted!" She took a seat at the island. "Now, it's been a week and you've been cooped up in this house like some kind of prisoner. Since I know that you're not swinging from the chandelier with one of your hot guys, care to share with the class why you're hiding?"

Alexis sat across from her daughter.

- "I've spent the week trying to figure out if I should stay with Mac in spite of our… _issues_. Or if I should give your father another chance," she finally replied. "It terrifies me to think of where things might end up with your father since _clearly _if he had his way I'd already be his bride. _But _it also worries me that I'm getting involved with someone who's as terrified of being in a relationship for the long term as I am."

- "Do you… do you ever want," Sam nervously bit her lip before continuing her question. "I mean, would you _ever_ want to get _married_ again?"

Given their past, knowing the discomfort her own daughter had with regard to a man who was not her father living in their home, Alexis sympathetically smiled.

- "You are _not_ that same kid you were then, Sam," she whispered into her ear. "We're in a different place. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me like that again."

The younger woman nodded in agreement. While she joked with her mother concerning her relationships, the fears of where things might end up with Mac also scared her. Would her mother stop trusting her if the man were to ever move into their family's home? Would she need to separate herself from her family so as to ensure her mother's peace of mind?

- "I really won't, Mom."

Alexis placed a kiss onto her daughter's forehead. Despite their close relationship, on occasion constant reassurance of her love and forgiveness were necessary for on many levels, her daughter did not truly forgive herself.

- "The bottom line," she brought the subject back to their topic of conversation, "is that I don't want to hurt either of them. Buuuut, I _do _know what I want."

Knowing that Mac's fear that her mother still loved Mathieu had cause his inability to get too close to her mother, Sam was particularly interested in her decision.

- "Well, what did you decide?" She eagerly asked. "Do you still love Mati? Did you want to try again with him? Or are you committed to being with Mac?"

* * *

She walked into the living room of the house in which she had grown up to find the man who had raised her as his own sitting quietly in his favorite chair. He stared at nothing in particular as though he were waiting for something… or someone. Knowing how disappointed he had been in not seeing or speaking to Alexis, who was undoubtedly avoiding him, Maxie sympathetically took a seat on the couch closest to him.

- "Daddy?" She paused long enough to gather her thoughts in order to avoid any unfortunate and unintentional insult or inconsiderate comment of which she was well known for making. "Why do you look like that?" Hearing her comment as it left her mouth, she quickly bit her lip. "I mean, what's wrong?"

She wondered why she could not have simply asked him the latter question in the first place. However, in looking at him, she knew that he had not even heard a word she had said.

- "Earth to Mac," she waved her hand in front of his face until he turned to look at her. "Oh good! I thought I'd have to put you in a home or something… like the male version of Shadybrook because I'm pretty sure that place is only for women. Can you think of any men who've ever been there?" She threw her purse onto the coffee table as she crossed her legs. "I'll wait."

Holding his phone in his hand, Mac shook his head in response to her question. But, it was not for lack of knowledge; it was really for lack of caring. Over the past week, he had done nothing but think of the woman to whom he was deathly afraid to give his heart… among other things.

- "Daddy! What in the world is wrong with you?" When he did not answer, she grabbed the cell and house phones from his grip. "I never thought Alexis was the best person for you anyway! Goodness, if you had stayed with her a moment longer, I have NO doubts you would've turned into some psycho serial killer."

- "Maxie," he sighed.

- "No, I'm so serious!" She spoke over him. "It's like her juices are—"

- "Please don't talk about her juices."

But lost in her thoughts, Maxie ignored her father's request.

- "It's a good thing you couldn't, you know," she uncomfortably looked at his seat then back to him. "She could've really trapped you then! I don't think there's an antidote for that type of crazy, Mac. It's like a reeeeeally bad case of Syphillis or something."

Rather than going into the details of his relations with his daughter's best friend's mother, Mac simply shook his head before wordlessly moving from his chair.

- "Where are you going?!" Unfortunately, she followed him. "I hope you aren't going to cal her from another room! You know she loves that damn Mati, don't you? And while I would normally say that I wouldn't blame her because if you go by size alone—"

Mac glared at the young woman.

- "First, what do you know about HIS size in anything?" He exclaimed. "And secondly, what would you even know about MY size! Not that it's any of your business, but I could be—"

- "Aside from the fact that you're making me very uncomfortable with this conversation, right not, but I seriously doubt that," she made a face. "If you were anything like Mathieu Le Gros, your last name would be Le Gros… instead of Scorpio. I mean, when you think about it, scorpions _are_ really small."

When her father began to walk away yet again, she quickly followed.

- "I guess there's really something in a name," she paused. "Oh, and no offense! They say size doesn't matter, you know. It's all about ability—"

She stopped once again.

- "Oh… um… I'm sure you have other talents."

While his daughter rambled on, Mac entered the kitchen and banged his head against the refrigerator. He hoped that at some point, he might black out so that he could be spared of the young woman's incessant, yet unintentional, insults.

- "I'm not incapable of making love to a woman, Maxie," he slowly began. "I'm incapable of making love to the wrong woman—"

- "So you agree with me? Alexis is the wrong woman."

He looked at her.

- "I never said that."

- "No, but you said—"

Realizing his efforts were for naught, he grabbed a bottle of vodka from the fridge. While he loved her deeply, if Maxie were to remain in his sight, he would need a drink... or two.

- "You didn't let me finish," he replied. "As much as I love," he cleared his throat, "a _woman_, regardless of who she is, I can't be with her that way if it's clear she either loves another man, or isn't sure she loves me back. I don't want to join my family with anyone else's if it's not meant to last."

Knowing exactly what her father meant, Maxie moved to where he stood. She poured herself a drink.

- "Well, you have to admit that the last time you joined a family, it worked pretty well for you," she playfully nudged him with her shoulder.

- "I guess you're right about that," he nudged her back before placing a kiss onto the top of her head. "Although, when you try to drug me or talk too much or marry—"

Grabbing the bottle from his hands, Maxie poured herself another drink.

- "Spinelli and I aren't married," she poured him a shot as well. "We're happily non-married. I guess that basically means that I can enjoy the benefits, whatever those are, of being married, without having to deal with all that drama that you and mom went through."

He clinked her glass before drinking. His relationship with Felicia had scarred not only his relationships with other women, but also those of his daughter with other men. Despite the amount of years that had passed since his relationship had ended, the effects nevertheless remained.

- "Well, I don't want to get into a relationship with Alexis, or commit myself too much, and she realizes that she should've given her relationship with Mathieu a chance," he sighed. "Obviously Sam isn't a little girl, and having her parents together isn't exactly some necessary type of thing, _but_ who knows? Mathieu and Alexis apparently had some kind of epic love that was stolen from them. Don't they owe it to each other to try and explore it?"

* * *

With Sam fast at her heels, She walked quickly into a store that looked eerily similar to the one she had seen in her dream. Of course, the only difference was the items sold.

- "Um, do me a favor," Sam tapped her on her shoulder. "When my mother arrives, can you please let her know that I'm following this crazy woman into a store I never would have imagined my mother would enter… like _EVER_ in life?"

- "Ms. McCall, how are you?" The saleswoman smiled at the petite woman upon her entrance. "We haven't seen you here in some time."

Alexis turned to stare at her daughter.

- "Color me surprised," she smiled. "Of course you've been here, and probably every other store of this sort in town. Am I right?"

Grabbing an item from the rack, Sam nonchalantly shrugged.

- "I told you that I could help you. I've also told you that you need to loosen up," first smiling at the woman who had greeted her, she then handed it to her mother. "Who would've thought that you would've taken my advice! I have to admit that I'm shocked, but pleasantly surprised. If only you'd tell me for which of your suitors you've decided to—"

- "I'm going to stop you right there," Alexis held her hand up. "Not only am I not telling you which person I've chosen, but I'm going to spare myself the stress of listening to you come up with colorful expressions to hammer the fact in that I need to loosen up, or your intentions of making me put on _anything _that looks like it should be worn only but an eight inch—"

- "You're making this too easy," Sam chuckled as her mind began to wander. "Maybe I should really place that order for the stripper pole I've been telling you you should get."

Alexis made as though she were attempting to strangle her.

- "I feel as though I'm living a déjà vu whenever I talk to you, you know that? It's just this _never ending_ loop that replays every time I open and close my eyes." She kissed the top of her daughter's head before moving to a far away rack through which she could rummage.

Sam raised an eyebrow. Given her mother's current attitude, it was clear that she was reacting out of nervousness. She wanted to step outside of the box, but she was… _terrified._

- "Hey," she approached her. Deciding that she should perhaps be a bit more accommodating to and understanding of the woman's efforts at taking her advice, she found and held up a tasteful black nightie. "How about this? I'm sure whoever you're going to choose would love you in this!" She then took another step toward her mother before whispering, "and not to mention how fabulous your boobs—"

- "Your fascination with all things that would make my boobs look great is—"

- "I'm only trying to help!" She handed Alexis the nightie in the hopes that the woman would actually try it on. "And besides, it's a sign of gratitude! Mine have served me quite well, thank you very much." She stopped. "Not counting the years prior to—"

Alexis knew she meant to clarify her statement by not showing any pride for her previous life. It had been well over ten years, but her daughter continued to struggle with her inner demons.

- "You just wait," she wrapped her arm around her. "When you have three kids… hell, even just the one… you'll understand my sorrow… _and_ reluctance to set them free for—"

- "They're not caged animals, Mom," Sam rolled her eyes.

- "Considering the amount of work it takes to get them into my bra, I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one, honey." She continued to look through the various selections on the rack. "Once they're set free, they flop around like—"

- "Mac's—" Sam began, but at her mother's glare, she bit her lip to refrain from finishing her sentence. "_Sorry!_ It's going to take a little bit of work to stop myself from throwing out whatever sexual thing that comes to mind. I mean, I try my best not to say _anything_ about Mati because…well… that's just disgusting. But Mom, Mac provides me with so much material! How could I not use it?" She paused. "But I'll _try!_"

Alexis shook her head as she finally found something that seemed perfect for the surprise evening she had planned for the one lucky man with whom she had finally decided she wanted to be. After a week's worth of dreams prompting her to follow her heart and to be with the person she felt most comfortable… and like herself… she knew she had finally made the right decision.

- "While you work on that, I'm going to go try this on."

Because her mother had quickly, and perhaps discreetly, handed the item to the saleswoman to bring into the dressing room, Sam failed to see what the woman had chosen.

- "Wait, I'll go with—"

Alexis abruptly stopped causing the close following Sam to walk into her.

- "I don't think so," she held the younger woman's shoulders and took a step backward so that she stood an arm's length from her.

- "Will you at least let me see it?"

She made a face.

- "What normal daughter wants to see her mother in negligee?"

Sam once again rolled her eyes at the woman.

- 'The one who wants to make sure that you look your best when you tell the lucky fella that you've either chosen to give your love another go, oooor that you've moved on from that other lifetime and want to start something new with him." She smiled widely. "And I just want you to know that even if you choose to be with Mac instead of Dad, I won't be upset. I'll actually support your decision wholeheartedly as I think Mac's a great guy who's lucky to have you."

Alexis brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

- "And what if I choose Mati instead of Mac?"

- "I mean, hey! That could be good too. It would make my life a bit simpler, I guess."

- "How do you figure?" She frowned.

- "You two will probably be in the one place for the most part which would mean that I could just avoid _that_ place," she nonchalantly stated. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you two are a bit overbearing for parents to a thirty year old."

While Mathieu was overcompensating for the time he had lost with her, Alexis had treated her daughters equally. They were all subject to her neurotic behaviors and fears that she might lose them. Being a Cassadine, after all, loss was a constant occurrence.

- "Yea yea yea." She playfully smacked Sam in the head. "I'll be right back. Why don't you call your father and ask him to meet me at the house in an hour, please?"

- "OH?" Sam's eyes widened. "Um, is that an admission? Are you… choosing the man with the Eiffel Tower in his pants?"

- "That's not at _all_ disturbing, Sam."

And putting the phone to ear, Sam smiled as she called out to her.

- "I don't know if that's true, and I certainly don't _want_ to know. However, between Diane and Maxie, that was the least offensive nickname I've heard."

* * *

As had become his daily routine, he sat in Kelly's for his evening cup of coffee after a long day at the hospital. He would never have claimed the diner's cup of coffee were anywhere near as delicious as that of any café he frequented in Paris, however it came surprisingly close.

- "Good evening, Monsieur Le Gros," she winked in his direction as she sauntered past his table.

- "Hello… Diane," he replied between a large final gulp of his hot drink. While his throat and mouth burned from the act, he figured that the sooner he could finish his drink, the sooner he could leave without the woman accosting him. "It was very nice seeing you—"

However the uncouth woman remained oblivious to his desires to leave. She took a seat at the table.

- "Any big plans tonight?" She winked at him as she flagged the waitress to their table. "Have you heard from Alexis?"

If only. Although he spoke with their daughter each day, Samantha had kept mum about her mother's whereabouts and thoughts concerning _their_ future… hell, he did not even know if there was such a thing. If anything, he would have liked to simply have a _present_ with her.

- "I have not," he sighed. "Have you spoken with Alex? Has she—"

- "Alexis is my best friend," she spoke over him. "I talk to her all-"

At the man's knowing look, Diane pursed her lips.

- "No. I think she's avoiding me too," she sighed. "I actually came over to see if you knew what the hell is wrong with her. Even that little Christmas Elf of yours-"

- "Her name is Samantha," Mathieu defensively responded. "And before you ask, she does not know anything-"

Diane knew better than to believe that.

- "Doesn't know, or isn't divulging anything?" she countered. "Surely you must have realized that that girl knows more about her mother than any normal daughter should?"

- "They are very close," he smiled. "I believe that Samantha only wants what is best for Alex—"

- "Do you think she thinks that's you?"

Mathieu smiled for a moment as he thought of all that could have been had he been given the chance to raise the young woman with the love of his life. His life could have been so... _different_. Alexis' three daughters could have been his girls. Their eldest would not have suffered as she had for most of her life. Alexis would not have thought she had been abandoned because she was unworthy of the love of a Le Gros. He sighed.

- "Well, I believe I am the best for Alex—"

Diane rolled her eyes.

- "I never would have guessed that you'd think that, Mati," she sarcastically responded. "Surely you would have wanted Mac to be the father to your—"

- "Are you here to be yourself," he irritably questioned her, "Or is it possible that you will actually listen?"

Slightly offended, Diane raised her hands to allow the man to continue speaking.

- "I do not know what Samantha would like," he admitted. "But, I believe that Alex would like something more than a childhood dream. She would like something real."

- "Do you think that you're able to give her that?" She asked. "Something real, I mean. With _Alexis_, not Alexandra or Alex. Do you think you can really be with Alexis? Get to know the person that Alexandra became... or didn't become?"

This was the first time the crude woman had ever spoken to him normally. It had been a question that he continuously asked himself whenever he thought of his daughter's mother for the person he was beginning to know, rather than the person he had imagined he could once again know... from a different lifetime. He was certain that he loved her.

- "She says that she is not the same girl I knew, but I don't know if I believe that—"

- "Was the Alexis you knew a neurotic, borderline obsessive compulsive, sexually repressed human?" Diane asked. "And before you make a comment about how I'm not taking anything you say seriously, I hope you know that I am. You dated a child who grew up in a home where she was not loved by anyone by a brother she thought to be her cousin. Then when she thought that she had finally found happiness, she lost not only her first love, but also the baby she should have raised with you. And _then _she ended up with two different guys, neither of whom ended up working out despite the kids she had with each of them. And need I mention the relationships with-"

Mathieu knew of the baggage Alexis carried. He was not naive to think that everything would be as he imagined in his dreams. But, he wondered whether or not he was foolish enough to think that it could be remotely _close_ to what he and _Alexandra _had wanted.

- "I just want a chance," he quietly stated.

- "Well, here's to hoping that you have _another_ shot with Alexandra," Diane raised the flask she had quickly grabbed from her purse. "Or at the very least a chance with _Alexis._"

And at that very moment, the man's cell phone began to ring.

- "It's Alex," he smiled at the caller identification.

- "Well answer it!"

His nerves caused him to fumble with the buttons.

- "_Allo?_" He nervously answered. "Alex?'


End file.
